Naruto the Chimera
by Artful Lounger
Summary: Chimera: a mixture of man, animal, beast, monster,and maybe a hint of demon Super Dark/Evil Naruto ,Team 7 bashing Semi X-over with some concepts taken from several books and animes, turned massive crossover later on. Warning, ending sucks.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Greetings my faithful readers this is the start of my third fic, 2nd Naruto fic, aptly titled Naruto: the Chimera. I hope that this will turn out better than my first Naruto fic which turned out a bit of a dud. Oh, well I can only hope that I do better in my choices for concepts to adapt this time. I'll do my best to see that this will be added to the list of great stories.

Full Summary: Naruto vanishes at 5 and appears 8 years later with strange and terrifying abilities and powers to join the genin teams . Dark/Evil Super Naruto, major Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi bashing. Semi X-over with several books and animes. Meaning some concepts are taken from them and adapted to the story, but no actual characters will appear.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, any other animes or books whose ideas I use, I will disclaim them as they appear. LET'S GET STARTED!

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It was a night of terror that no one would forget for centuries in the Konohagakure no Sato, The Village Hidden in the Leaves. The night that the legendary Kyuubi no Kitsune the greatest of the nine Bijuu, the great tailed demons of legend attacked and destroyed a great part of the village, ending the lives of thousands, civilians and shinobi of all ranks alike, no one was immune to the great creatures wrath, malice and rage as it bathed the land in endless flame which melted steel and flesh alike and then crushed what remained beneath clawed foot or furred tail.

All of those losses, among shinobi, or civilian were considered irrelevant compared to the greatest loss, the loss of the great Yondaime Hokage, the greatest Hokage yet to take the helm of the village. The man gave his life and more in order to seal the foul beast's soul into a newborn child, his own child though VERY few knew of it and those who did kept it a secret, his last wish was that the boy be treated as a hero, sadly that was a wish that was completely ignored as the people sought a scapegoat to vent their rage, anger, and hatred for the fox upon. The people went without such a scapegoat for a day or two after the attack until people came upon the notion of an idiot, that the child was in fact the demon and acted as if it were true. 'The damn fox is still here, weakened as it is, we can not let this chance go by, we must avenge the Yondaime!' were the thoughts of almost a hundred villagers as they marched towards the orphanage where the boy stayed.

The boy's 'caretakers' merely let them in as if they weren't here to murder an innocent child, among the first in the room was a man with a headband over one eye and a shock of gravity-defying grey hair determined to 'avenge his sensei' , among many others with similar headbands and goals, all of which circulated around the death of an innocent child. Luck was with the child however as the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Sasuke, was watching over the boy with his crystal ball and upon seeing the sight at the orphanage, immediately went to the place, a full squad of ANBU behind him.

As they fell upon the orphanage they found that the boy was not lethally harmed, but was still very badly hurt, as they arrested the foolish civilians and more foolish shinobi, including the grey-haired jounin who shouted that "You can not protect the boy forever Sandaime!" before he vanished among the other prisoners. Fearing for the young child's life he was rushed to the hospital where his wounds were grudgingly treated under the  
Sandaime's watchful eye, making sure that the child came to no further harm that night.

However, what the grey haired former ANBU captain said soon proved to be true as the boy WAS harmed physically, mentally and emotionally for the next five years, four of which were spent in the orphanage with people who detested him, the fifth spent alone in a small apartment in the slums, with graffiti on the walls and door and hatred from every direction.

On that night, October 10th the worst day of the boy's life was experienced.

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Naruto POV

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Pain, that is what he felt, as well as fear, there was plenty of that too, and hope, hope that he would be saved.

It was a normal day for Naruto, a living hell being persecuted for absolutely nothing everyone either actively or sneakily causing him physical harm or wishing someone would kill him soon, like I said a normal day, not much out of the ordinary, at least until about six O'Clock rolled around. At that point the world went to hell, than back to Earth which is possibly worse than hell for one blond, blue-eyed boy.

It started with the mob hammering upon his door, until it finally collapsed inward at which point the apartment was swarming with drunken villagers with a smattering of fully sober and fully armed shinobi, with one grey-haired former ANBU acting as the leader.

They tore through his house, searching for the 'Demon' hoping to avenge the Yondaime and there loved ones. When they found him they beat him, until many bones were broken and they felt the need to finish the job, at which point the grey haired ANBU, having watched until now, took up the position to end the boys life ten feet in front of him, the boy was held up by his armpits by two semi-sober villagers, he took his stance, legs spread, left arm straight down, right arm clasping the left as the sound of birds and a flash of lightening filled the room.

"This is for Minato Sensei demon, finishing what he failed to do five years ago!" the man yelled as he ran towards the immobilized boy, his arm, encased in lightening, thrusting towards the boy's head, ready to plow through and end his life. The hand reached closer five feet, three, one….

The hand had barely grazed the boy's face, completely scorching the left side of his face, from cheek to forehead boiling and melting the flesh into a wax-like substance before an grizzled, liver-spotted hand clasped the man's wrist and threw him across the room, knocking out the villagers soon afterwards and having the ANBU arrest them all.

The Sandaime would have preferred to give them all a death-sentence, especially Kakashi since this wasn't even the twentieth time that he had tried to take the boy's life though it was only his second time getting caught. But sadly with the council dead set against him, he knew that the men and women would get a slap on the wrist, a token night in jail and would be free by morning, with the council on their side the shinobi would get, at worst, a few days suspension from duty, it is sad how the human mind works.

The old man rushed to the hospital to have the boy treated, and managed to get them to treat him. He got a report from the doctor before he went in however.

"The boy is lucky to be alive Saruobi-sama. He had about a dozen broken bones, and a few torn muscles, the worst damage was to the face however, the chidori literally melted the flesh on the left side of the boy's face and he will never be able to use that eye again." The doctor said in a worried and tired tone.

"Can I see him doctor?" the old man asked.

"Yes, it should be fine, just be quiet." And with that the doctor departed for home.

The old man slowly opened the door to the boy's room and what he saw almost threw him into shock. The boy was gone! The nearby window was open and a draft blew in. There was only one thing new aside from the missing child and that was a note upon the boy's pillow.

The note said only one word.

'_REGRET'_

The ANBU were sent to search for him of course, but there was no sign anywhere, it was as if the boy never existed in the first place and they never received the slightest clue as to his location.

Until eight years later when a strange masked figure appeared in the Hokage's office on the anniversary of the boy, Uzumaki Naruto's, disappearance, leaving nothing but an aura of fear, despair and misery in it's wake.

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Okay so what do you guys think, quite a bit better than the last one eh, anyway review and I will update when I can.

Until then,

Artful Lounger


	2. Chapter 2

AN: okay here is the second chapter to my second Naruto fic Naruto the Chimera, there will be a few explanations in this chapter, which is needed since I left a quite a cliff hanger in the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I own any of the various books and animes whose ideas I am adapting in this fic, I will disclaim them individually as I go to avoid spoiling anything in the fic.

By the way I will write the jutsus in Japanese when I can, if I write a jutsu in English than it is either a jutsu whose name I don't know in Japanese or it is one of my original jutsu and I don't have a translator. I would appreciate some help on that score if you could, thanks in advance.

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Last time:

The ANBU were sent after him, of course, but they didn't find anything, it was as if the boy never existed and they never got the slightest clue as to the boy's location.

Until 8 years later on the exact day of the boy's disappearance and the day of the Genin graduations, when a strange masked figure appeared in the Hokage's office leaving nothing but an air of fear, despair, and misery in its wake.

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The Hokage leapt from his chair with a mighty oath and got into his normal combat stance, more than prepared to deal with this mysterious ninja.

As he did, he took note of his opponent's appearance, he was wearing a white cloak like an ANBU captain complete with hood, but with larger sleeves which he used to hide his hands, as well as a piece of thin rope, tied in a hangman's noose around his neck like a tie,(Nicodemus' noose from the Dresden Files, which I do not own, anyone who has read the series thus far should know by now just how overpowered Naruto is just by reading this.), he was not tall, about as tall as Gai's student Rock Lee, but the scariest part about the man was his face, you couldn't see it. His face was hidden behind a mask of white, bone-like material in the shape of a human skull, minus the jawbone, with the 'teeth' extremely long and spreading out in all directions covering his lower face the mask also had three small horns, one in the middle of the forehead the other two were a few inches to the left and right. (Chimera's mask from MAR, which I don't own.)

This entire analysis took place in about three seconds which is all he had before he was overwhelmed, not by any physical attack, or jutsu, but by sorrow, regret and utter fear, it was as if the figure, by just being near him sucked any and all happiness and hope from him, leaving him with nothing, but his worst memories and feelings of utter hopelessness. (Think the dementors from 'Harry Potter' (which I don't own) but that's the only thing I am taking from there.)

The strange man then spoke "I expected such treatment from the villager's when I returned, **but not from you ojii-san.**" The Hokage first noticed the man's voice; it started as a high pitched alto, and then suddenly changed to a deep baritone halfway through the sentence. (Aaroniero Aruruearie's voice from Bleach, which I also do not own.) Then he took notice of the man's words, and said "Who are you, what do you mean by 'when I returned' and only one person ever called me 'ojii-san' and you ARE NOT HIM!" shouted the Hokage in rage, sadness, fear, and deep in his mind, just a spark of hope lit by the man's title for him.

"I can't believe you don't remember me ojii-san, **after all it has only been eight years since that man, Kakashi attempted to kill me on my fifth birthday."** Said the strange man in that odd, two toned voice, the first of which could be the voice of an angel, the second the voice of a devil.

"N-n-no, it can't be! Naruto is that you!?" The Hokage asked in hope and wonder.

"Who else would it be **ojii-san?"** said the strange man as he reached up and moved the mask, revealing the right side of his face, which was the tanned skin and blue eye of Uzumaki Naruto.

The old man known through the last fifty years as the 'Shinobi no Kami' the 'God of Shinobi' was for the first time in years, completely dumbstruck, he was completely stunned by what was just revealed to him.

"N-n-n Naruto, h-h-how? Where have you been, what happened, how did you get like this? We sent ANBU to find you, but it was like you vanished." The Hokage asked, completely astounded at what HAD to be a miracle.

"Well ojii-san I doubt you really deserve that information, I mean** you never told ME about the Kyuubi or who my parents were did you?** But you were the only one who cared about me for the first five years of existence so I will tell you regardless." He said as he sat down in front of the Hokage's desk, while putting his mask back into its normal position. The Hokage did the same, still feeling the hopelessness and misery that had been plaguing him since the boy stepped into his office.

"Y-y-you know about the Kyuubi?" asked the suddenly frightened ancient shinobi.

"Of course I know about the Kyuubi, after all **it was the Kyuubi who helped me escape this place long enough to obtain the power that I would need to survive with those arranged against me."**

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"Perhaps I should just start from the beginning, it started the night I left, **after that nin-gen Kakashi, burned my face beyond all repair, the Kyuubi contacted me in my sleep**, and together we came to the conclusion that I had about five years tops before I was eventually killed, as things were. **With the Kyuubi's help I opened a portal to the one place that I could reach quickly that would be guaranteed safety from being captured and dragged back here by ANBU before I was ready, which I now am."**

"Where did you go, Naruto?" asked the genuinely curious Hokage.

The two different tones said the name of the place at the same time "**HE**LL!"

"What! What do you mean you went to hell?"

"Exactly that ojii-san, I with Kyuubi's help, opened a portal to Hell, and **went through to escape the bigotry long enough to obtain power, power enough to survive here, leaving you a note to make you pay for your inadequate protection and naïve faith in this village, but don't worry, **all is forgiven on that score, after all you didn't have much choice in the matter."

"While I thank you for your forgiveness on what I consider my greatest failures, I have to ask what kind of training you did." Replied the aged and relieved Sarutobi.

"You would be surprised what kind of place Hell actually is ojii-san, it's harsh and cruel yes, **but it does not hide behind a veil of arrogance, pride, and politics like the Konoha version of demon, **but the beings down there are actually pretty friendly as long as you are not one of the 'inmates'.

"Kyuubi gave me a few unique abilities, the main one was the ability to absorb the techniques and abilities that the various souls had while they were alive, **mind you this ability only worked in Hell, no where else, the rest of the time I was doing as much physical and chakra training as I possibly could, making my own jutsu, obtaining items of power, such as my 'necklace' or watching the living world, **which is why I chose today to return as I know the team assignments are today,** the fact that it is my 13****th**** birthday is just a coincidence."**

"What do you mean by 'items of power Naruto-kun' also what about the Kyuubi and what are your plans, also just how strong you are?"

"By items of power I mean just that, items imbued with powers of some kind over thousands of years, they are very rare, my plans are right now at least, to join the Konoha genin teams, that will be a good start, as for your last question, well** through my looking upon this world while I was in Hell, I have matched the abilities of almost every ninja on the planet of jonin level strength and above against mine, and **the list of people that I would have to take seriously in a fight, meaning people who might be able to kill me if I didn't is surprisingly short, **in this entire world there are a grand total of 16 people who would be a threat to me in combat they are: the Sandaime Mizukage, the Sandaime Raikage, the Yondaime Kazekage, the Godaime Tsuchikage, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the nine members of Akatsuki the organization that I am sure you know about, **mind you most of those people could only hope for a draw and little more, best case scenario if they fought me one on one (for my opponent mind you) is that they kill me, but they come out of It minus a few limbs. And before you ask Sandaime-ojii-san, the reason that you are not on the list is because of a simple reason, **you are not strong enough to defeat me. No offense, but it's true, age has tremendously sapped your strength, if you were in your prime it would be a completely different story mind you, **sorry if I hurt your pride."

"Don't worry Naruto-…."

"Another thing Hokage- Ojii-san I must ask you not to call me **by my old name."**

"Your old name?" The Hokage asked suspiciously.

"**Hai, I have not gone by that name in six years, 'Naruto' was the name given to me when I was human, **which I no longer am, not really at any rate."

"What do you mean by that, and if so, what would you prefer to be called then?" Sarutobi asked getting worried.

"I would prefer to be called **Chimera, as that is what I am, it is the side affect of my training method of absorbing the best techniques and abilities from various souls. Chimera: a mixture of man, beast, and more it is a fitting name for me, **do not worry ojii-san I am not a demon or anything, but nor am I entirely human, that is what causes my two tones of voice, this one represents the human parts of me, the other tone represents everything else, you can tell which side has more influence by how much each tone shows, currently it is about equal, which is what I was going for these last eight years."

Torn the Hokage nodded "Very well I suppose I understand Naru-, Chimera-kun."

"Thank you ojii-san for understanding, and you asked about the Kyuubi right?" seeing the Hokage's nod he continued, "Than I will tell you, **the Kyuubi is no longer a part of me, it is free of the Yondaime's Seal."**

"**NANIIIIIIIIIIII!** Where is it now, we have to get ready for another attack!"

"Hold on ojii-san, trust me the Kyuubi is not a threat."

"What do you mean he's not a threat, do you remember what it did thirteen years ago?"

"Of course, but trust me **Kyuubi is not a threat, I made sure of that personally, you see in Hell I developed a special container made to contain the Kyuubi, an inanimate object bound with special seals made to seal and hold the Kyuubi and the Kyuubi alone. **I made it in case the Kyuubi ever became more hindrance than help, which it did a few weeks ago, it tried to get me to destroy Konoha, which I didn't want to do, so I sealed it in that container and hid it from the world, **no one will ever find it unless I lead them there, mind you it the sealing left a few side-effects."**

Relieved and worried the Hokage replied "What side affects?"

"**Well the sealing was dangerous to begin with, **after all the Kyuubi was literally melded to my soul, a less sophisticated jutsu would have killed me, this one was good enough so that it didn't kill me, but the Kyuubi was grafted to a part of my soul so It took a part of me with it, leaving a literal hole in my soul where the Kyuubi was attached, it's not harmful to me, **don't worry, but it is actually useful in a way, surely you have noticed the fact that as long as I have been in your presence you have barely had any cheerful thoughts?"** seeing the old man nod he continued "**That is caused by the hole, it created a spiritual vacuum inside me which sucks in any and all happiness or joy, leaving any one near me with nothing, but misery, **it also forces the victim to relive the worst memories they have, sorry for it by the way, but it is not something I can control, I hope you understand."

"It's alright, don't worry, anyway you wanted to join the genin teams right, well that's no problem, we have an open slot in a team anyway, I will send Iruka a message to expect a new student today, and adjust the team rosters and to put you on the two-man team, with your training you don't need to take the exam. Said the Hokage as he quickly wrote a note, and used a messenger bird which would get to the Academy just before class.

"Arigatou ojii-san, anyway when should I be there?"

"Class starts in about ten minutes, you should be able to get there easily enough, you know the way I presume?" The Hokage asked.

Chimera nodded and then vanished, not even a puff of smoke or flicker of light he just vanished.

'Sorry Naru-, no Chimera-kun for putting you on 'his' team, but I had no other option.' Thought the Hokage as he looked out towards the academy.

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The announcement at the academy created quite a stir when Iruka told his students. 'Today we are getting a new student', he said.

The reaction was immediate, everyone went berserk.

It would be too wordy to write, but the general consensus was "Why are we getting a new student on graduation day?"

Iruka made sure to appease them by telling them all he knew.

"He's not a new student really; he's just a genin who had an extra person pass in his class, so he couldn't go on without a team, so he had to wait on the reserve list until another odd number came up, like on one team in this class, so he is being called upon to fill the empty spot."

"So what's this guy like Iruka-sensei? Asked the ever curious genius, Shikamaru.

Iruka replied honestly "I don't know, I have never met him, we won't even find out his name until he gets here, so we'll wait until he arrives to announce the teams."

And with that the entire class, minus a few broke off into groups to wonder what the new guy would be like. The four major hopes were:

'I hope it's a hot guy'

'I hope it's a hot girl'

'I hope he's strong'

In Sasuke's case it was 'I hope it's a hot gay guy' (sorry I couldn't help, but put that in there)

All of their hopes and fantasies were laid to rest however as the door opened and the new student walked into the room, a wave of misery and fear so thick that it was almost palpable following behind him.

The first thing that everyone noticed was his clothes, a loose white cloth robe, with a hood and long sleeves, which he used to cover his hands in front of him with. Then they looked towards his face and saw his mask, a human skull without it's jawbone, with the teeth in the upper jaw stretching out to cover his entire lower face, last of all people noticed what was around his neck, a piece of thin grey rope, fine as silk tied in a hangman's noose around his neck.

Needless to say the first thing everyone thought was that he was 'scary' 'a freak' or both, none of which were really a lie, then he simply sat down away from everyone else, a wave of misery and fear striking anyone and everyone he went near.

Iruka, after he had recovered, managed to stammer out "U-um excuse me, eh what's your name?"

The answer floored everyone as fast as his look. "My name is **Chimera, you are Umino Iruka yes? If so you** should be telling us what the teams are right?"

Everyone was scared as hell by now and showed it, except for the stoic SOB Sasuke, who tried not to let his fear show, the first voice was like that of an angel, but the other was that of a devil.

Iruka immediately remembered his duties, picked up his clipboard and read of the teams:

Teams 1-6 don't know, don't care

Team 7- Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Chimera.

Sakura let out a fangirl squeal that died as soon as she heard the 'freak's' name/

Team 8- Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino

Team 9- still in rotation from last year

Team 10- Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji

"Well, I have new students to prepare for next year so this is where we part, for now anyways, you guys have to wait here for your Jonin sensei, so I'll see you around." After that Iruka left the teams to themselves.

People started to talk after that, business as usual, except for the new guy, who sat in silence as the senseis came and went until only Team 7 was left, who ended up waiting for 2 hours before a familiar shock of grey hair popped in and said "Team 7 on the room in 5 minutes." Then vanished in a puff of smoke.

After that Sasuke and Sakura walked up the stairs while Chimera just used shunshin.

When they finally arrived there teacher said "Okay, now that we are a team we will need to get to know each other a bit, tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future. Pinky you're up first." He said while pointing at Sakura.

"A-ano sensei, shouldn't you go first?" replied the hidden banshee.

"Okay fair enough, my name is Hatake Kakashi, my likes and dislikes are none of your business, I have a few hobbies and my dream for the future, hmm I don't really have one, I have already fulfilled it. Pinky, you're up.

"My name is Haruno Sakura I like, (she looks at Sasuke and blushes), and I dislike INO-PIG! My hobbies are (looks down in an embarrassed fashion, and sending the occasional glance at Sasuke), and my dream is (She looks at Sasuke and lets out a loud squeal).

"Okay, you next the broody one." He says pointing at Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I have very few likes, and a lot of dislikes, I don't have any hobbies and my dream, no my _ambition_is to kill a certain man." He said with greater hatred and zeal as he neared the end of his speech.

"Okay last but not least, the gallows-hand." He said pointing at Chimera.

"My name is Chimera, though that was not always my name that** is all you need to know about me."** He said this quickly and with much anger and hatred.

"Alright, you three will meet me at training ground 7 at 8AM for your real genin exam, just so you know this exam has a failure rate of 66 percent, also don't eat breakfast or you night throw up, until then. Than he vanished in a puff of smoke as he used shunshin to make a flashy exit.

The three 'genin' got up and began to leave, as soon as they were out of the building though, Sasuke yelled "Hey freak, fight me!"

Chimera turned around and looked at the foolish Uchiha. "Are you sure you want to fight me Sasuke,** this might be something you regret later."**

"Yes I'm sure, now let's go or are you scared?" Said Sasuke in an arrogant tone, despite his fear of his teammate, and lack of the slightest happy thought.

"Very well, so **you too seek eternal repose, if you insist than I shall defeat you."** He said as he stared at his opponent through his mask.

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AN- So, what do you guys think, review because this might be my longest chapter EVER!

See you next update,

Artful Lounger.


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome to Ch.3 of my fic Naruto the Chimera, I was surprised at how popular this fic became.

Disclaimer: I don not own Naruto, nor any of the animes and books I take any concepts of ideas from, they are disclaimed individually the first time they show up, so you would have to read the second chapter to get the others thus far. If anything shows up that is from some anime or book that I already disclaimed than it's up to you to figure out where it's from.

By the by, if you see a jutsu in English than it's probably one of my original jutsu, I could use a translator for this sort of thing, would someone help me out?

Let's get this started.

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Last time

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As the 'Genin' left the building Sasuke yelled "Hey freak, fight me!"

Chimera looked back towards the arrogant Uchiha and replied "Are you sure you want to fight me?** It may be something that you will regret later."**

"Yeah I'm sure, or are you scared?" said Sasuke in an arrogant tone, despite the fear he held for his new teammate, and the lack of any form of cheerful thought.

"Very well then, **you too seek eternal repose, if you insist than I shall fight you **Uchiha Sasuke, I hope I don't kill you by accident."

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"Hah, like you could kill me EVER!" Sasuke yelled as he ran forward to attack, in the normal Uchiha Taijutsu stance, and sent a kick out toward Chimera's head.

Chimera merely swerved aside as the Uchiha went flying past him, and landed on all fours.

Sasuke then ran forward and delivered a barrage of punches and kicks, which Chimera dodged, never moving more than a few inched from where he stood when the fight started. Sakura looked on in awe at her 'Sasuke-kun's'strength, and fear at the 'freak's' skill that obviously dwarfed that of the young genin before him.

But, regardless of reason or common sense a fangirl is a fangirl, and as is her moral obligation as such to yell out, in her normal bitchy, banshee screech of a voice "Come on Sasuke-kun! There's NO WAY that this freak is better than you! Stop holding back and show him what an Uchiha can do!"

Unfortunately for both fangirl and Emo prick alike, it was not to be as Sasuke was easily and obviously outclassed in Taijutsu, he backed off, panting heavily, leaving his opponent standing there, right where he was when the 'battle' began, not a scratch on him, not breathing hard in the slightest, looking rather bored at the mediocre display of strength.

The stuck-up bastard then began doing handseals in rapid succession, ending in a tiger seal, he then yelled out "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" as breathed a small ball of flame (compared to Itachi's at least) at the masked enigma. Sasuke thought at that moment, in confusion 'why is it so small, it's normally a lot bigger when I use it.'

Chimera just stood there, not even blinking, but if you listened closely you could hear the unmistakable '_swish, swish, swish,'_ of someone performing handseals coming from the inside of his held together sleeves.

When the blast of flame was less than ten feet away from him, he held out his hands in front of him and yelled out, "Ninpou:(Dark Reflector) no **Jutsu**!"

The moment he did, a translucent sphere of energy a light purple color formed around him, and Sasuke's Katon jutsu rammed right into it.

Sasuke, being the arrogant prick he is, immediately thought that the battle was over the moment he saw his jutsu hit it's target, let out a satisfied "Hah, that will teach you not to underestimate one of the great Uchiha Clan!" He affixed a self-satisfied smug smile on his face as he turned to leave and Sakura, in great fangirl form let out an excited "Sasuke-kun, you're amazing!" as she saw her 'hero' defeat the 'freak', they were good enough as a two-man team anyway, or at least she thought, after all if anything happened, her 'precious Sasuke-kun' would defend her. (What an absolute crock of !)

That was of course before a fireball hit Sasuke as he began to walk away, burning his shirt, and scorching his hair a bit, naturally being an emo. (Secretly gay) pretty boy, and arrogant avenger, he was probably more pissed at that than anything else. He turned around, utterly lived and saw the last thing he expected.

His opponent, the new guy, the freak, was standing there completely unharmed, exactly where he was before, as if he never had fire breathed at him, as if the fight was just beginning, and everything up until now was just a tiny start of a warm-up.

He said to the 'last Uchiha' "Now I see why Itachi left you alive, **at your current level of skill, you won't be able to take on anyone at Itachi's current level for a long time, it will be at least** a decade before you are anywhere near ready to fight him, as he is now, let alone me and by that time he will be even stronger, as will I.** You will never defeat Itachi, it is an obvious fact.**" Naturally Sasuke was royally pissed off as he heard this and ran off to attack his teammate.

And he was promptly blown twenty feet away before he got anywhere close.

It came without any warning, except for a quick flash of red light in the eyeholes of his mask, a wave of his hand, and everything in a medium sized arc was annihilated by unseen force,(think the abilities of the Chevaliers from Blood , which I do not own) and Sasuke was blown away, covered in many shallow cuts, bouncing on the ground a few times before coming to rest a few feet away from a familiar pink haired banshee/kunoichi, who looked like she was about to go into shock. Her 'invincible Sasuke-kun' was just effortlessly beaten by this freak.

She almost wet herself when said freak stalked over to the still conscious, but stunned Uchiha and put his boot on his head.

"You are pathetic Uchiha, how do you expect to even scratch Itachi, **with a weak C-class Katon jutsu like that? You would be better off if you quit being a shinobi, you really have no **talent at all, you have no finesse, no grace, and little-to-no skill, all you have is an above average amount of power for someone your age, a dead clan, and an un-awakened bloodline. **It is a wonder that you are not dead, your brother should have annihilated you that day, why he did not I doubt I will ever know, but it is a shame nonetheless. You** will never beat Itachi at this rate, and if you can not defeat Itachi, than you should not even think about defeating me. You are unable** to even stand after being hit with a simple blast like that at 20 percent, **come back when you can at least stand after being hit by one of my jutsu, and then you might be getting somewhere. Until the survival test tomorrow then, **you worthless excuse for a ninja."**

And with that, the being known as Chimera vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke wallowing in misery and Sakura in total shock, all three being unaware of a certain Hokage watching him in his crystal ball.

'Hmm, so you were not boasting after all, Naruto-kun about your strength that is obviously true.' Thought the old man as he stroked his beard.

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The next morning, 10AM, training ground 7

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"GAAAAAH, WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY! I MEAN I KIND OF EXPECTED KAKASHI-SENSEI TO BE LATE, BUT NOT THAT FREAK CHIMERA TOO! Yelled our favorite (not) weak-as-hell bitch of a kunoichi, AKA Haruno Sakura.

Sasuke only replied with a quiet "hmmph" as he continued to brood upon his utter defeat at the hands of that 'freak' Chimera, who hasn't shown up yet. At least that's what they thought, anyone who could sense chakra could tell that he was watching the training ground from the trees, just slightly pissed off at the fact that their complete bastard of a 'sensei' is two damn hours late. 'Oh well, at least I had the common sense to eat breakfast, unlike those two idiots' he thought as he waited for his tardy, and bigoted sensei to show the hell up.

His wish was soon granted as his bigoted son-of-a-bitch sensei appeared in his normal puff of smoke, reading the ever so lovable volume of orange porn(god knows he can't get the real stuff). The first thing he did was ask where Chimera was.

As if it was scripted a reply quickly came out in that angelic voice that Chimera seemed to possess. "I am here Kakashi-san." The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and no one, no even the _elite Jonin _Kakashi could find out exactly where he was.

"Where are you, Chimera?" Said the local gray-haired prick as he gazed around the forest.

"I don't think any ninja worth his pay would **willingly reveal his location Kakashi-san, I will stay hidden until I see fit, but I can hear you** perfectly well, by all means continue your explanation of the test, I will hear it from where I am."

"Hmmm, well if you insist." Said Kakashi, somewhat irked that this genin could evade him, he is an ex ANBU captain! 'Well I will get plenty of chances to make him show respect today.' Thought the bigoted jonin, and launched into the explanation behind the bell test. (If you don't know what it is, than you shouldn't be here, I don't have the patience to write it all.)

Needless to say, by the end of the explanation one of the three was scared, one was excited to test his abilities, and one was almost drooling with anticipation, looking forward to beating the HELL out of the jonin, guess which thoughts belonged to whom.

Kakashi set an alarm clock down on a tree stump and said "Okay this clock is set to go off at noon, 3, 2, 1, START!" and with that the two genin jumped away, into the trees and bushes.

Kakashi went after Sasuke first, he wanted to see how far along the last Uchiha was, and what he should teach him first, privately of course, the other two really weren't worth his time.

Kakashi found Sasuke in a tree looking for him, and snuck up behind him and with a whispered 'boo!' made the 'great Uchiha' leap ten feet into the air, tossing a few kunai at his sensei on the way down.

Kakashi dodged the kunai, and began engaging his student in a battle of Taijutsu, making sure not to harm his (only, in his mind) student. After a few minutes of having his punches and kicks blocked, Sasuke leapt backward and started doing handseals, after he finished with a tiger seal, he yelled "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" and unleashed a ball of flame at Kakashi, which should be noted was much bigger than the one he used on Chimera the day before, after the jutsu hit blank space, courtesy of Kakashi's Kawarimi no Jutsu, a few bandaged cuts on his arms that he received yesterday began to burn and twinge, 'till Sasuke could only barely move his arms without feeling pain.

Seeing his student's plight, he moved into the open and asked "What's wrong Sasuke?" as he looked at the bandages, Sasuke replied "The cuts on my arms are hurting." Furious that someone would DARE to harm the 'great Uchiha' he asked, with much venom in his voice "Who did that to you Sasuke?" determined to kill, or at least harm the one who had the nerve to attack an Uchiha.

Recognizing an opportunity to get back at his teammate for humiliating him, he immediately replied "It was that freak, Chimera sir. Yesterday he attacked without provocation after the meeting." Making sure to make himself cringe in fake pain to fool his teacher.

Kakashi was seeing red after he heard that 'How DARE that FREAK, that NOBODY harm the last of the noble Uchiha? Mark my words, by the end of this test Chimera; you will regret attacking Uchiha-sama!" Afterwards, to keep up appearances, he knocked Sasuke out with a chop to the neck, and laid him down somewhere comfortable to wake up, then he began to search for his white-masked 'student', to make sure he either 'accidentally' died or was badly hurt during the test, but he found the pink- haired fangirl first.

Not wanting to waste time, he simply hit her with a genjutsu to knock her out, and continued his search for the 'freak' that had DARED to harm the 'Great Uchiha-sama.'

"Dammit, Chimera where are you?! Come out and face me you coward!" Yelled Kakashi in pure frustration at the fact that he couldn't find his 'student' despite his skill and experience.

"Are you sure that is what** you wish Kakashi-san, than I shall face you, let us see what the 'Great Sharingan no Kakashi' can do!"**

Kakashi couldn't tell where the voice came from, but his 'danger sense' was tingling at the back of his neck like a nest of pissed-off hornets, acting on his intuition he leapt into the air, and just in time too, as he saw Chimera appear right behind where he was a few seconds ago, an enormous cut in the earth opening as if sliced with a gigantic claw appearing in front of him. If Kakashi didn't move when he did, he would have been sliced in half!

Kakashi moved in at lightning speed, kunai in hand, and attempted to cut Chimera's throat, he was effortlessly avoided however by the strange masked person, and as Kakashi soared by, a large gash opened in his flesh, in one diagonal swath from the right shoulder, to left hip, slicing muscles, deeply scratching bone, and drawing large amounts of blood all the way.

"I am deeply **disappointed Kakashi-san, I thought that you would** last much longer than that." Said the strange person as Kakashi writhed in immense pain, they both knew that the would was bad, but not fatal despite appearances, he wouldn't die, but he would be barely able to move for quite some time what with all the nerves cut.

Chimera reached down and took the bells from Kakashi's belt, just as Sakura, carrying Sasuke on her shoulder appeared in the clearing, they both gasped when they saw their teammate's handiwork. Sakura was even more scared than she was before, and Sasuke was royally pissed 'Just how strong ARE you Chimera?' he thought as he looked upon the jonin on the ground.

Before they could reach Kakashi though, the two bells went through the air, lying at their feet. "**Take them." **Said Chimera as they followed his orders, he then looked at the downed Jonin and said "We pass Kakashi-san.** Where and when do we meet?"** Kakashi was lived, but he could not fail Chimera, not without failing Sasuke too.

Kakashi was in a spot but he had little choice he said "Very well, you pass, I need you three to show up here tomorrow at noon, Sasuke, I need you to come two hours before the others, I have a few things I need to teach you. Sakura, will you help me to the hospital?" Sakura nodded and picked up Kakashi, and supported him as they headed towards said place of healing, leaving Sasuke and Chimera alone.

Sasuke said "hmph, you see, there's the proof for you, I'll be getting extra training from Kakashi-sensei, I'll leave you in the dust you freak, and you won't be any match for me, especially when I get my Sharingan!" Sasuke boasted arrogantly.

His bubble was soon burst however as Chimera showed him the light of ever-accursed common sense. "It does not matter if Kakashi-san** teaches you everything he knows Sasuke, who do you think gave him that gash? I am **stronger than Kakashi ever will be and no matter what training he gives you, you will always be weak compared to me" And with that Chimera vanished, leaving Sasuke even more pissed off than ever before.

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Several weeks later

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Sasuke was pissed, not only was he STILL not strong enough to hurt Chimera, let alone defeat him, but all he had been getting since the Bell Test was D-rank missions!

Being an arrogant Uchiha prick, and on a team with an Uchiha-lover for a sensei, naturally Kakashi gave his approval when Sasuke asked (see demanded) a higher ranked mission. Kakashi of course had another ulterior motive; he was hoping to be able to kill Chimera on their mission outside of the village.

Regardless of the reason they were assigned a C-rank mission to protect an old bridge builder on his way to Nami no Kuni and guard him as he finished his bridge.

He made quite the entrance: Drunk off his ass, barely conscious, and insulting the entire team except for 'That masked guy, he looks tough' was the only good thing he said to the team as he chugged more sake.

Kakashi said for everyone to meet at the East gate in two hours, and then disappeared, as did Chimera to prepare.

They met at the gate as agreed and everyone set off towards Nami no Kuni.

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AN: And done, what did you guys think, not as long as my last chapter, but still not a bad job if a do say so myself. Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Oh, and you guys can expect frequent updates for a while, because I am stuck at home, sick as a dog. Lucky you.

See you in the next update,

Artful Lounger.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Welcome one and all to Ch.4 of Naruto the Chimera, since I am sick as fuck and have absolutely nothing to do, aside from read/write fan fiction, and look up youtube videos at the time, I will try and do the entire Wave arc in this chapter, and maybe even as far as the Chuunin exams. Enjoy!

Oh, by the way I will do the jutsus in Japanese when I can, if I do one in English, than it's probably one of my original jutsus or something I adapted, either way I need a translator, will someone help me out? Thanks in advance.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, that belongs to Misashi Kishimoto, as bad as he has fucked it up as of late, those of you who have seen Chapter 393 know exactly what I am talking about, nor do I own any of the animes, or books whose ideas I adapt to this fic, those I will disclaim individually as they show up the first time, if I use anything from an anime/book that has already been disclaimed than it's up to you, the reader, to find out what is from where.

Oh by the way for those who think Naruto (Chimera) is too overpowered I'll tell you now that I will just take something from two more animes and limit myself within those confines, just so you know.

Now, where was I…. OH YEAH!

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Last time

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Kakashi told his team to meet at the East Gate in two hours to begin their first C-rank mission to Nami no Kuni.

They met at the agreed upon time, and set off towards their destination, irate and drunk bridge-builder in tow.

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They proceeded down the road at a slow pace. (For a ninja, at least meaning normal for Tazuna) Sasuke was quiet and brooding, trying to think of a way to defeat his brother and defeat his teammate, hoping to think of some strategy on how best to use the power given to him. Sakura was trying to get Tazuna to talk about his homeland, but was having little luck as he seemed rather down and depressed at the moment, well as is everyone when they get within about thirty feet of Chimera, many suspected, but none knew for sure, except the Sandaime and Chimera himself that he was indeed behind his team's despair during any time together, then again for Sasuke, it wasn't much different than normal anyway, but that's just chickens and eggs.

Kakashi was brooding as well, trying to think of the best covert method to get Chimera killed on this mission for harming the 'Great Uchiha Sasuke', though he at least hid his brooding by reading his porno book, unlike said Emo prick that just brooded in the open whenever he was outside. Chimera himself was quiet, as usual, his mind upon topics that others had no right or want to know, as far as they were concerned who even WANTED to know what the 'freak' was thinking.

Things went on like this for a few hours until they were about four miles from Konoha at which point they came across a rather large puddle. Kakashi noticed something was amiss, who whispered a warning into Sasuke's ear, Sakura and Tazuna didn't notice, but Chimera heard though, over the past few weeks people said that he had ears like the devil himself(which wasn't too far off from the truth), he noticed the odd puddle himself, of course and realized what was up almost immediately, he just listened in to have one more reason to hate his 'sensei' who over the past several weeks during their 'training sessions' every other day only taught them teamwork exercises and the basics of basic chakra control, despite that fact, he knew for a fact, that he was teaching Sasuke ,privately of course, on the days between said training sessions after their 2-4 D-rank missions various D-B rank ninjutsu, helping him to try and unlock his sharingan,(in other words just trying to stroke the Uchiha's pride and ego) and even telling him about the known strengths and weaknesses of Uchiha Itachi, and (a bit surprisingly) all the information he had about HIM, Chimera! Actually encouraging Sasuke that if he were to 'accidentally' die in a training accident, that his 'sensei' would be very proud of the 'Uchiha genius' for defeating that 'freak of a nobody' he was also well aware that both Kakashi and Sasuke would kill him if they got the smallest chance and had a decent shot at getting away with it, all because he beat them both on the day of the Bell Test and the day before, of course he would do the same if he could they had no idea what they were getting into, playing THAT kind of game with him of all people. Pride and Stupidity, thy name is Hatake Kakashi, and Uchiha Sasuke.

Still, they all left Sakura in the cold when the two Kiri ninja jumped out of the 'puddle' and immediately wrapped a spiked chain around Kakashi and pulled, supposedly ripping the man to shreds. Sakura of course did the only thing she could and screeched like the lovechild of a harpy and a banshee, hell one of them even FLINCHED for a second at the sound! Sasuke, being an egotistical douche bag ran in and attacked the two ninja with moves, strategies and combos he learned privately from Kakashi, Chimera, moved backwards, quiet as a wraith toward Tazuna to protect him, hoping Sasuke got killed, with Kakashi there it was unlikely, but still remotely possible, said favoritist porn addict was in the trees looking down at the battle, watching Sasuke show off his newly taught skills and hoping Chimera got into the fight and got killed, sadly this was not to be as Sasuke was still overwhelmed despite his private training and Kakashi as forced to step in and save the village's 'precious Uchiha-sama' from death at the hands of the two Chuunin. The battle didn't last long after he took the field.

As Kakashi was tying up the 'Demon Brothers' he was congratulating Sasuke on his 'impressive skill' and 'natural talent', because surely nobody taught him such moves right? He also disparaged Sakura for not 'backing up Sasuke' and then of course he moved on to the main course that he was looking forward to.

"Chimera, why didn't you help Sasuke? He could have died if I didn't step in." Kakashi asked, hoping to embarrass his 'student'.

"It's simple Kakashi-san; my mission was and still is to protect Tazuna, **not my teammates or you**. **I did not help because** they may have been a decoy, drawing attention to themselves so a third assassin could slip by our guard to **kill him**, **I am assuming that they** were here to kill Tazuna of course, because if they were on a mission to kill any one else here, **they would have sent a ninja of at least your caliber**, if they came anywhere close to Tazuna, they would have died**, if you are saying that my trust was misplaced** in the Uchiha in being able to defeat such weak enemies, while I was watching out for a possibly more dangerous foe, **merely say so and I****will try to take care of things that I deem out of Sasuke's league**. Said Chimera, giving a valid explanation to Kakashi, and forcing him to agree with his course of action, or else risk insulting the Uchiha, which being an Uchiha-lover, he would probably sew his own mouth shut before any such 'heresy' could escape his lips. Of course that wasn't the truth, the truth was that Chimera was just standing back, hoping the Uchiha's stupidity and pride in believing that he could defeat two stronger and more experienced enemies would get him killed before Kakashi could intervene, unlikely, but he was still willing to give the dice a roll, so to speak.

"I see, well there was some good judgment on your part Chimera, you should still give some consideration to your teammates' survival as well you know, 'Those who don't obey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash'." Said Kakashi, AKA hypocritical piece of shit and Uchiha loving closet yaoi fan boy, hoping to obtain more protection for Sasuke against any powerful ninja they might face in the future. Yes, yes **I will be sure to take that under advisement Kakashi-san, **in the mean time, however…." He turned to Tazuna, who turned white as a sheet. "Why are there Chuunin level** Kiri nukenin after you Tazuna-san?"**

Sounding genuinely curious instead of angry as most people would in said situation. Seeing no way out of this situation after paying attention to the fact that there were two gennin-level, one jounin-level and one (secretly) kage-level ninja asking the question, Tazuna told the team everything, about Gato, about the current economic situation of Nami no Kuni, and why such deception was needed, eventually after the story, Kakashi told his students to take a vote on whether or not to continue the mission. Chimera and Sasuke raised their hand and voted for 'continue' as did Sakura once she saw how Sasuke voted on the matter, Kakashi didn't really care though, the only vote that he was paying any attention to was Sasuke's, whatever he voted for, he would make sure it would happen, he was the jounin in charge of the mission, after all. Kakashi was only worried that jounin might be coming after Tazuna, in which case he was not sure if he could protect both Tazuna and Sasuke. 'Oh well' he reasoned 'If worse comes to worse I'll just abandon the mission, grab Sasuke and get back to Konoha, and leave the freak and the fangirl to get back on their own, no one really cares about them anyway.'

After the vote was taken and the group was rested, they continued on their journey to Nami no Kuni. After a somewhat pleasant, if tense and miserable with Chimera there, boat ride, they came to a straight, misty path which would lead to the town that was on Waves' side of the bridge.

It was a rather peasant walk, for all concerned, at least until an enormous sword came flying out of the air behind them, spinning as fast as an average buzz saw.

Kakashi immediately yelled "GET DOWN!" and then tackled Sasuke to the ground, Sakura did the same but with Tazuna getting tackled, Chimera just stood by until the last second(getting Sasuke and Kakashi's hopes up that he might get killed) then ducked under the massive blade, crushing said morbid hopes just as quickly.

The sword continued to spin until it hit a tree to the left of the path and sliced about halfway through before it stopped, quivering in the wood. A strange man then appeared, standing on the hilt of the immense sword looking down at the group like a hawk would it's prey, with confidence, willingness to kill, and feeling absolutely no remorse about any such thought, or any acts that would come of them

Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi immediately went on guard when they saw the man, who was obviously more powerful than the two they faced the day before. Kakashi drew a kunai and said to the odd man "So Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the hidden mist, have you fallen so low to be bought by people like Gato to kill old men to stop them from saving a country?" Not that he cared about the country, mind you; he didn't care much about anyone's safety in this entire country except Sasuke's and his own.

The strange man replied in a low, rumbling, and gravelly voice "Sharingan no Kakashi eh? I can see why the Demon Brothers failed if you of all people were protecting Tazuna, I can see that I will actually have to fight seriously if you are here, but with three brats, and an old man to protect? It makes this fight a lot simpler. Just hand over the old man, Kakashi and you as well as the three brats behind you can leave with your lives!" yelled the newly named Momochi Zabuza.

Kakashi thought about giving the old man to Zabuza, he really did, in his mind Zabuza would be almost as strong as he is now, enough so that the battle could go either way, if he won then he would be even more famous, but if he lost, than Uchiha-sama would almost definitely die, and that would tremendously weaken Konoha, however one of his attacks might 'accidentally' miss and hit and possibly kill Chimera, and would end that blight on the Uchiha's honor for that nobody DARING to be better, even in the slightest. He decided that fame and a possibility of killing Chimera was worth the risk, but he would have to tread carefully.

He lifted his headband and shouted to Zabuza "A Konoha ninja would never abandon a client Zabuza!" Zabuza who was looking forward to killing him replied "The Sharingan already? I'm honored, well then let's begin shall we?" Then Zabuza vanished as quickly as he appeared, than reappeared standing on the lake, Sakura and Sasuke were impressed, as Kakashi hadn't taught him chakra control yet, but water walking is supposedly very difficult. Chimera was unimpressed with the mediocre display of chakra control and the amount of chakra that Zabuza was releasing as he unleashed his jutsu.

"Kirigakure no jutsu!" Zabuza yelled, and almost immediately afterward, the entire area was surrounded by a thick and heavy mist that made sight with or without a doujutsu like the Sharingan very difficult, which was probably the point.

Zabuza kept them all off balance, except for Chimera, with threats and psychological warfare, unleashing a large amount of killing intent all the while, Sakura couldn't even move and Sasuke was so afraid that he was about to slit his own throat until Kakashi encouraged and promised to protect his comrades (as long as their name was Uchiha Sasuke), then Zabuza used Shunshin to appear in the middle of the defensive cordon around Tazuna and was about to cut into the Sasuke when Kakashi moved as fast as he could and stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, only 'Zabuza' bled water instead of blood.

Zabuza then appeared behind Kakashi and cut him in two as the 'Zabuza' from before was revealed to be a mizu bunshin, as did the 'Kakashi' Zabuza cut in two much to Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna's relief, and Chimera's disappointment. Kakashi tried the same thing on the new Zabuza only to find out that it was another mizu bunshin while Zabuza attacked Kakashi's real body, and threw him into the water, where he was trapped in a 'Suirou no jutsu. (Water prison technique).

He then created another mizu bunshin, and sent it out to kill the 'weak gennin'. Naturally that misconception didn't last very long, at when it came to the level of Chimera's strength.

The first thing he did was rush the bunshin at a speed that surprised everyone and appeared inches away from the clone, what happened next no one really knew, he tapped the bunshin, right between the eyes, and continued on towards Zabuza, as the bunshin turned to attack Chimera, it's head exploded, and the rest of it turned back into water, needless to say everyone was shocked and a bit scared, especially Zabuza. (Karasu's ability from Yu Yu Hakusho, both the character and the show itself kicked ASS!)

He then rushed toward Zabuza and appeared right next to him, then to his shock a large, deep cut appeared, spiraling up from the arm that held Kakashi to a large cut across his chest, he recoiled from the immense pain, accidentally freeing Kakashi in the process, who was surprised and angry of his 'student's' strength, despite the fact that he never taught him anything, and made a mental note to make him teach that technique to Sasuke, later.

Meanwhile, Zabuza took his great sword in his left hand, as his right was almost useless, and swung toward Chimera, realizing that he was a greater threat than he looked and hoping to end that particular threat quickly. The target of the strike, however, merely dodged around the strike, and with a quick hand movement, sent Zabuza flying just like he sent Sasuke flying before the Bell Test, only this strike was about fifty percent of the techniques' full capabilities, but it was still very potent, and sent Zabuza flying across the lake, through a few trees and eventually smashed into one at which point he blacked out from the pain for a second or two, but when he came to his senses, he saw his masked opponent just a few feet away, hand raised, about to finish the battle and his life, then he felt two needles going into his neck, and he smiled below the bandages where no one could see and thought 'Thanks, Haku I owe you one.' Then he lost consciousness. Before he did however, he saw the strangest thing, Kakashi had a kunai and was about to throw it, but by his approximation he was not aiming it at him, but at his student?! Weird, weird beyond measure.

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'This battle was rather simple.' Thought Chimera as he rushed to where Zabuza landed from the blast, when he finally found him, he was just regaining consciousness 'probably blacked out from the pain, he really is a sturdy person, anyone below jounin would have died in that for sure, and most jonin would still be out of it for a few days at least. Oh well he's dead either way I suppose.' Were the thoughts of Chimera as he raised his hand, about to cut the Kiri Nin's head off, then something unexpected happened, two needles came from the forest and hit Zabuza in the neck! An odd young man then appeared in the garb of a hunter ninja appeared, thanked him for weakening Zabuza, then took the body and left! Something was clearly off about that, 'Hunter ninja are supposed to destroy the body on sight and only bring back the head as proof, but he took the entire body, the two were obviously working together. Well better get back and tell the others' thought Chimera as he began to turn back toward where his teammates were he felt something nobody forgets after the first time, the feeling of a kunai in a spot that would normally kill someone. He turned back and saw none other than his 'sensei' Hatake Kakashi looking smug at his bull's eye of a throw.

"Why did you throw this knife Kakashi-san?" asked Chimera, doing his best to look like he was dying in order to get Kakashi to hang himself. It was an act of course, it is almost impossible to actually _kill him_, wounding is possible, however, but not really effective.

'Why to get rid of you, you little upstart, how DARE you harm Uchiha-sama, no matter the circumstances, if he challenged you to a match than you should have bowed in surrender and offer to teach him what you know so that he can kill his brother and one day take his rightful place as Hokage someday!' Was what Kakashi was thinking as he answered and was the real reason as to why he threw the knife, but he couldn't let THAT get to the Hokage's ears, the man was senile, and for some reason treated 'Uchiha-Sama' like everyone else, and though many would agree with his course of action, that man probably wouldn't. On the off chance that Chimera lived he had to give a plausible, though fake reason.

"Chimera-kun! I'm sorry, I was aiming at Zabuza, but my arm was shaking from exhaustion, please forgive me my student!" Said Kakashi, to keep his position should Chimera live.

"Oh in that case, **it is no problem Kakashi-san." **Said Chimera as he reached behind his back and pulled out the bloody kunai that he KNEW that Kakashi threw at HIM intentionally, but revenge wasn't prudent at this point in time, so he had to play nice 'for now, at least.'

"C-c-chimera h-h-how? Stuttered Kakashi in complete shock.

"**Don't worry Kakashi-san there are ****very few**** things that can** actually kill me, this is nothing, come on we should get back to the others and tell them that Zabuza's gone. Said Chimera as he headed back, handing the kunai to a still stunned and secretly furious Kakashi as he walked by him.

As they returned to the group Chimera told a summed up version of what happened i.e. 'Zabuza was gone but he was still alive and we must be ready for when he gets back.'

After that they finished their journey to Tazuna's house and met his daughter, Tsunami and his grandson, Inari, who was almost as Emo as Sasuke, but he wasn't over the brink like Sasuke was, he could still be saved from that fate at least.

As they sat down for dinner the first night at Tazuna's house, the entire team was surprised to see CHIMERA of all people come and sit down at the table. They had never seen Chimera at any sort of social setting, Sakura even tried to hunt him down once to see what the 'freak' did in his spare time, but never found a trace of him. Even on the few D-rank missions that required some form of meal with the team, Chimera didn't eat anything, when asked why he simply said 'I don't need to eat as often as a normal person.' The rest of the team just thought that he didn't want to take off his mask because he was ugly. During the one time that the team went camping as a way to build camaraderie they saw that he even SLEPT with that mask on, the noose too!

But surprise from his team or not he simply sat down and took a plate of food like everyone else, everyone was watching Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna and his family, and even Kakashi as he reached towards his odd skull shaped mask… and took of the bottom part of it with a soft 'click' and set it down on the table and started to eat. They all examined the lower half of the face of the enigma, his skin was very pale, and rather smooth, nobody could find anything wrong, or deformed about it, except for one small patch of skin about an inch long that stretched down from the left of his face (the right side of his face if you are sitting across from him) that pitch black, the color of a steak left on the grill for an hour too long, but before everyone could study his face further he finished his meal, and replaced the lower half of his mask and walked up into the bedrooms after a soft "good **night." **

The next day, Kakashi took his team out into the forest to train them for Zabuza's return, the only reason he wasn't only teaching Sasuke as usual was because he didn't want to deal with the paperwork if the others died. He told them the basics of the tree climbing exercise, then gave them a few kunai, and stood back, hoping to see Chimera fall, but he was completely shocked when he walked toward the tree, then up it all the way to the top without breaking stride, in the slightest. He stuck the kunai, the same one he got stabbed with, at the very tip of the tree, then walked back down and asked "Can I go now Kakashi-san?" Kakashi was floored, but he nodded, before he could ask any questions however, he was gone. Chimera wasn't seen again until the day before Zabuza was scheduled to attack again, dragging a fully grown BEAR behind him and blood on his hands.

Kakashi was, again, shocked. The first thing he asked was "Chimera, where have you been the last six days?" "Simple Kakashi-san** I was doing some light survival training, this forest is actually a lot** more dangerous than it looks, full of things like this, you can have it by the way Tsunami-san**, it will last quite a while."** Chimera said, first indicating the bear, than dragging it behind the house.

"I will see you in the morning." He said in that angelic voice as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom.

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It was quite late in the morning when Chimera woke up; then again he hadn't slept in almost four days. He was surprised not to find his throat slashed given the company he had, it wouldn't have mattered either way a slashed throat wouldn't have killed him, thanks to the noose, though few others knew that it was because of the noose that he could survive almost anything.

The reason he woke up was quite apparent, there was a loud screaming that he heard from downstairs, putting on his robe he got down there quickly and saw two third-rate swordsmen making off with Tsunami, probably to be used as a hostage against his team.

Not having any of that, he vanished and reappeared behind the two goons without them noticing him, and tapped them both on the back of the head, by the time they realized that someone was behind them they were already dead, due to Chimera's deadly touch their heads exploded and they fell to the ground, showering Tsunami in red.

He picked her up and cut her bonds, then brought her back inside to an unconscious Inari. She immediately went to him and checked to make sure that he was alright. At the same time she told Chimera that his team went to the bridge with Tazuna and left him behind because he was still sleeping.

'More like they wanted to brag about 'beating Zabuza on their own'.' He thought as he thanked Tsunami for the info. Before he left, however he said one thing to her. "Tsunami, tell Inari when he wakes up that I will do to Gato the same thing that I did to those two outside and watch his mood improve." Then he was gone.

As he arrived at a cliff overlooking the bridge, he saw three things happening, Kakashi fighting Zabuza, Sakura pretending to protect Tazuna while really being useless and Sasuke trapped in an odd prison of what looked like mirrors.

He sighed and though 'I fight more people before 9 AM than most people do all day.' As he readied himself to enter the fray.

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And done, with what I think might be my longest chapter thus far, Read Review and above all else Enjoy!

Oh, sorry I didn't get through the entire Wave Arc like I said, but it's late and I am sick and I need to go to bed. See you in the next update, and goodnight.

Artful Lounger.

PS, Sorry for the cliff-hanger


	5. Chapter 5

Welcome back, oh loyal readers I am happy to report that my sickness is gone, thank god. I decided to celebrate this with a new chapter (like I need a reason).

Disclaimer: Misashi Kishimoto owns Naruto, I do not, despite how bad MIsashi has fucked up the series. Nor do I own anything else I use, the individual disclaimers are where they first show up in the story, I will not disclaim anything twice unless it's something particularly obscure and it would be difficult to describe.

Need a translator, help me out, same thing as the chapters before, just insert it here

Oh, someone mentioned that despite the summary and character's actions thus far, Naruto(Chimera) hasn't done anything back, don't worry, it will happen, just not in the middle of an important mission like the wave mission, and it won't be completely overt, but everyone will eventually get what's coming to them.

Okay, I will finish the Wave arc and go as far into the Chuunin exams as I please in this chapter so let's get started.

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Last Time

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As he arrived at the bridge he looked below and saw Kakashi fighting Zabuza and holding his own, Sakura was pretending to be protecting Tazuna while really being useless, and Sasuke was in dire straights, being trapped in a large dome of what looked like mirrors being hit by senbon from every direction.

He sighed and thought to himself 'I fight more people before 9 AM than most people do all day'. As he prepared himself to enter the fray.

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He watched the Hunter-nin's technique carefully, trying to find out how it works, as well as any possible weaknesses to exploit so that he could save Sasuke, don't get me wrong, if he could leave him to die, he would, but Sasuke would probably survive the encounter either way, he met that Hunter-nin in the forest, and he didn't seem to be the type to kill someone unless absolutely necessary, worst case scenario, Sasuke gets knocked out for a while, then after Kakashi kills Zabuza, which thanks to his Sharingan would probably happen, he kills the guy out of Uchiha-loving rage because he hurt him, then let Sasuke take the credit for the kill when they get back, and exaggerate the enemies' strength all the while, to make the prick look like he is more than he is.

He would gladly let Sasuke die, but he would survive whether he won or lost, due to the enemies' overabundant heart, damn.

That doesn't mean however that he couldn't 'save' Sasuke from an unforthcoming death, and make him feel like the weak scumbag he is, and that was exactly what Chimera was planning to do.

He waited until Sasuke looked like an overgrown hedge-hog and was staggering on his feet, he had seen enough of the enemies' technique to know what it does, or at least a rough guess, and he knew just how to stop it.

When Sasuke expected death to show up at any moment something unexpected happened, Chimera showed up and saved him.

It happened quickly; even with the newly awakened Sharingan to help he still couldn't be sure when he got there. One moment, he was looking death in the face, the next moment Chimera was next to him, and he moved his arm in one quick, sharp motion in front of him in one broad arc, Sasuke felt a slight pressure, not much but it was there, combined with the misery that seemed to come of being anywhere near the guy. Then something odd happened. Every mirror, from the ones a few inches off the ground, to the one floating horizontally over their heads, shattered into tiny pieces. And the Hunter-nin, Haku, who had created the dome of mirrors, flew across the stone.

Sasuke didn't know this, but he HAD seen that technique before, he had been HIT with it the day he met Chimera, but he never saw it used at full strength before now. 

Chimera had calculated the necessary strength needed with that technique to shatter the mirrors and not kill Haku would actually have to be the attack's full force to do what he wanted. The attack used at full power at close range is a death sentence, it would kill anything at that range, unless they were someone like Hidan. The immense force would hit hard enough to shatter almost every bone and liquefy muscle; the blood loss from the deep cuts that the technique would cause the body to die of blood loss within minutes at most, but those mirrors were very sturdy and they protected Haku a lot, enough so that the blast, when it hit him, was mitigated to the level of strength of the attack at about thirty percent, a perfectly survivable blast, it helped that the strike was used to hit everything around him in a circle, instead of the area directly in front of him, as it is normally used, it lessened the impact on the mirror he was in. So, the mirrors are gone, but Haku is still alive and mostly conscious.

He was never going to kill Haku, he didn't deserve it really, he was desperate, as was Zabuza, that was the only reason that they were working for scum like Gato in the first place, he would knock him out, but not kill him, unless it was unavoidable, same goes for Zabuza if possible.**(1)**

He knocked out Haku as he walked by him towards Kakashi's fight with Zabuza, leaving a stunned, humiliated, and angry Sasuke behind him.

Zabuza was holding his own against the ex-ANBU captain, and he was winning too, or he was, then Kakashi let Zabuza cut him and he managed to trap Zabuza with his summons, which increased his dislike for the jounin.

Chimera never liked summons, the idea of using another's strength to fight never appealed to him, and as such he held anyone who used summons in general dislike, with rare exceptions like the Sandaime who only used one summon, Enma in his transformed state, them both working together, instead of the summon doing all or most of the work like most people do when they use them to fight.

But Zabuza was a real threat to the mission, and Kakashi was going to kill him, with the jutsu that he hated the most, he recognized the stance and the handseals used for the chidori, and recognized the sound of birds as his hand was encased in lightning preparing for the death blow to end the battle.

He ran toward Zabuza, chidori raised as Chimera watched the end of the battle, he closed the distance between them rapidly and then he noticed something.

It was a large rock that had been broken from the bridge when one of Zabuza's sword swipes missed Kakashi and hit the ground, it was pretty big too, about as high as Kakashi's shin, and it was only a few feet from Kakashi's path.

It took Chimera less than two seconds to decide what to do. Zabuza didn't deserve to die yet, and Kakashi needed some pain in his life courtesy of the ex-Jinchuuriki who had suffered at his hands, he used the same attack he used on Haku at less than one percent of its full power and it blew the rock into Kakashi's path.

The Chidori has one major weakness for the user: Tunnel vision

The user would only see what is directly in front of him at a certain height and nothing else, so he didn't see Chimera blow the rock in his way, and as such, he tripped over it, laying in the ground, Chidori lost, but not completely wasted, the lightning hit the stone at Zabuza's feet and shattered the stone there, and hitting the swordsman with the shards, one of the bigger ones hit him in the shoulder, dislocating it, another particularly jagged piece tore apart the bicep in the other arm making it useless. The summons then vanished, their jobs done.

Zabuza fell to the ground in pain as Kakashi staggered backward, trying to figure out what happened, and then when things seemed more or less resolved, something had to go wrong. In this case the something took the form of local bent businessman Gato and a small army of cheap muscle there to storm the bridge and kill anyone on it, then destroy it to protect Gato's monopoly on shipping industry in the country and continue his chokehold and reign of terror.

"Well ,well ,well I thought I could trust Momochi Zabuza the '_kiri no oni'_ to get the job done when I asked for the assassination of one old man, and here we find him beaten up, both arms broken, his partner in crime knocked out and the old man still alive. I don't think that you have earned your fee on this one, as if I would have paid it anyway. But that is why I have this army with me, to do what you couldn't and a bit more." He turned toward the 50-100 strong group of thugs and told them one thing 'Kill anyone and everyone on the bridge.' Then they charged as Gato got out of the way and got ready to watch the fireworks.

'Oh, fuck' thought the bigoted jounin as he saw the group charge towards them all 'I am sorry Uchiha-sama, I have failed you.' He thought as he looked toward Sasuke who had passed out from the pain the needles caused him. Then once more something unexpected happened.

Zabuza simply asked "Kakashi our quarrel is at an end, but I can't let this guy get away without paying me so let me borrow your kunai." Seeing no problem with that he tossed said knife to Zabuza who caught it in his mouth then charged toward the army of thugs. He wasn't stupid, he knew a deathblow when he saw one, and Zabuza knew the wounds caused by the rocks would kill him within a few minutes, but he could at least take out Gato before he went. His only regret would be leaving Haku all alone, but these things happen. He killed five men on his mad rush for the crooked businessman and wounded five times as many, but he still died before he got to his target, the blood loss too much for his body to handle.

Chimera saw that Zabuza was dying; it was obvious if you knew what to look for, oh well, these things happen. Then he noticed the rest of the small army getting it's bearings and preparing to attack again, then he looked at his 'team' Sasuke was knocked out but would be awake in a few minutes, same goes for Haku, Sakura is fine, but helpless, and Kakashi was tired, so it was up to him to take down about 100 goons of various shades and the tycoon himself. 'Once again I fight more people before 9 AM than most people do all day.' Was the only thought going through his mind as the small army charged the bridge once more. The only difference was that THIS time, they were up against someone who was stronger than Zabuza and had working arms, along with a few more quarts of blood in his veins, it helps.

The battle, more like slaughter, was over before it really began; he timed it actually for exactly thirty seconds after Sasuke woke up just so he could see it. He raised his right arm to his left side, and sent a quick horizontal chop in the air. A few seconds later the first twenty men in the group were cut in half and a good number of people behind them got nasty cuts, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, Tazuna, and everyone else was stunned. Rinse and Repeat, until eventually Gato was the only man left standing among the corpses and soon-to-be corpses, give them a few seconds to bleed out, of his army of hired thugs, looking like he was about to wet himself, Sasuke was pissed as was Kakashi and Sakura and Tazuna were trying to pick their jaws off of the floor, but couldn't reach low enough.

Gato was scared, it was to be expected of an enormous coward but he was more scared than usual, I mean he brought about one hundred men to bear against two tired jonin, an old man and a pack of brats, all was going well, until one of the 'brats' cut them all to pieces and was staring at him from two feet away. Wait, what?

It was true, it took about as much time as blinking, but Chimera was there about two feet in front of Gato, hand raised. Gato clenched his eyes shut and waited for the end. Only it didn't come, he opened his eyes to find the kid had touched him in the middle of the forehead with one finger, he thought, just for a second, that he was being spared. Then his brain exploded out of the back of his head, not as painful as Chimera would wish, true, but he said that that was what he would do to Gato and he was committed, oh well lost opportunity, but it was unavoidable. Then he looked back and saw one thing he didn't expect, but probably should have. 

Sasuke had gotten up, moved silently over and slit the throat of the sleeping Haku, despite the fact that he was beaten and defenseless. In Sasuke's mind this 'nobody' had beaten him and he couldn't allow word of it to reach anyone. The pride of the Uchiha clan would be ruined.

Chimera was there in an instant, grabbed Sasuke's throat and lifted him into the air more pissed off than Sasuke had ever seen him and immediately growled "**You are an idiot Uchiha, why did you kill him, when he was beaten, he could have been useful to us and the village you fool!"** Sasuke wasn't thinking too clearly and therefore gave an honest answer "He beat me, it's that simple, I couldn't let that get out, so I took care of a potential threat."

"You were right to kill him Sasuke, nice job." Commented Kakashi as he made his way over to the duo to save 'Uchiha-sama' from potential harm from the 'freak'.

"You idiots, he had a powerful **bloodline, we should have taken him back to Konoha alive where it could have done some good, **but now that opportunity is wasted because of Sasuke's arrogance and pride, I will meet you here at the bridge when we are ready to return to Konoha, until then." And with that Chimera vanished, along with the bodies of Zabuza and Haku as well as Kubikiri Houcho, Zabuza's sword.

It was a beautiful place, a cliff overlooking the entire town where Tazuna made his home, the bridge could be seen from there too, it was a gorgeous view. It was a fitting lace for a grave or two.

The graves of Momochi Zabuza and Haku laid side by side, with uncut stones at the heads of each, Zabuza's sword driven through the ground beside his headstone, scratched into the stone were there names, nothing else.

Chimera kneeled before the two graves and offered his prayers to the two 'I am sorry I could not save you from those two, but some things simply weren't meant to be. I hope that you can both find peace.' Were his thoughts before he rose and went to the bridge to meet his 'team' which he now held in even greater dislike than before for the trip 'home'.

It was decided unanimously as the four walked away from the bridge and toward Konoha that the place would be forever known as 'The Great Chimera Bridge.'

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Konoha two weeks later

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Chimera was doing what he always did when he was in Konoha, hunt for information about the village, learning everything he could about it, from the numbers of members of the various ninja clans, to evacuation protocol, to ANBU patrol paths. You would need such information to destroy a ninja village. He had no delusions about the place, and he was well prepared to leave, he would leave the village forever the moment he saw fit, which would be the first time the village pissed him off after the Sandaime died. He owed the old man a lot, he would toe the line and be useful to him as long as the man lived, which would not be much longer if his age was any indication. He owed him that much. Going by that system, he would be gone within a week of the guy's death, most likely. Then he would begin the work necessary to destroy his 'home'.

He found out something quite interesting that he had been looking for: the plans for the Chuunin exams, everything from details of the exams, information on all the known participants which, he saw, included him and the rest of the 'rookie 9' as they were known despite the fact that HE was no rookie. He also found the answers to the first exam and information on what would need to be demonstrated to become a Chuunin in the third exam, not that he needed any of it, mind but he was bored.

He was actually just walking in the street when he heard some little kid yell "Hey let go of me you freak!" Interested he decided to look in on the matter.

He turned the corner to see the Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru, being held up by the scruff of the neck by someone with a Suna headband. His friends Moegi and Udon trying to get him down, Sakura faring no better than the academy students, it was pathetic really. Remembering the information he saw on Exam participants he recognized Sabaku no Kankuro immediately, and saw his sister Sabaku no Temari behind him. 

Figuring that he had nothing better to do and that this WAS the old man's grandson he decided that he might as well save the brat. He moved in at a quick speed and clasped Kankuro's forearm in a vice-like grip and said "I would suggest you **release the boy if you want to keep this hand."**

Kankuro was amazed at how fast, and _strong_ this guy was and almost immediately grew afraid of him, he knew on a primal level, that if this masked guy wanted him dead, it would probably happen, and released the boy in that fear, the guy's grip alone told him that he could probably follow through with the threat he made. Then they all felt it and Kankuro grew even more afraid, he recognized that killing intent, he would notice and recognize it anywhere.

Gaara was there almost immediately, the first thing he said was "Kankuro, you are an insult to our village." Using shunshin he got down and said "Stop in such frivolities before I kill you." And he said it like he meant it too, Kankuro immediately stammered out "O-o-okay Gaara, whatever you say." As he hoped to get out of the situation alive.

Chimera released the fool's hand when he sensed Gaara, he was someone to keep an eye on. The group started to walk away when Gaara turned around and asked "What's your name?" He immediately answered "Chimera, and** I highly recommend that you remember it Sabaku no Gaara, I look forward to seeing **you in the exams**."** Then Shunshined away leaving a surprised Gaara behind.

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It was the first day of the Chuunin exams and he met his team outside of the academy as they agreed upon during their last team meeting. Then the three of them walked into the building, up to the second floor where a genjutsu was placed around a room and two Chuunin disguised as genin were stopping anyone from getting through.

Being an asshole, and as arrogant as possible, Sasuke immediately said "Drop the Genjutsu, we're going to the third floor, not the second."

The first thing Chimera did was pick Sasuke up by the throat and slam him into the wall "I always knew you were an idiot** Uchiha, but I would have never guessed that it was this severe, this was **a simple test to weed out those too weak to even deserve to try the exam in the first place and you just helped all of them get farther which hurts our chances. BAKA!" Then dropped Sasuke on the ground dropped the two Chuunin guarding the door when they attacked him and continued on his way, his team following close behind. They obtained the notice of most of the applicants there however, and in more than one case unease and fear.

They were passing through a large empty room when a voiced yelled out from behind them "WAIT!" Then an odd person dressed in green spandex of all things jumped down from the balcony behind the team. The first thing he did was introduce himself as Rock Lee, and then he asked Sakura, of all people on a date, and then upon obtaining the fangirl's rejection he continued on to challenge Sasuke to a duel.

"Why would you challenge** the second strongest person on this team?"** Chimera inquired, genuinely curious. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE SECOND STRONGEST, SASUKE-KUN IS THE BEST THERE IS!" Screeched the oh-so-lovable (not) Uchiha whore known as Sakura.

"Really, so why did I **defeat him effortlessly the day we met, **and then effortlessly defeated an enemy that would have killed him had I not intervened, Sasuke is weak and you are even worse **so shut up already!"** came the words of Chimera, lord of common sense, and debunker of idiots in Konoha.

At that point they both shut up, fearing for their lives, they both knew Chimera was still way stronger than they are though Sasuke would never admit it, and they were really afraid of him.

"So if you want a **real match, not a slaughter carried out by you **then fight me, Rock Lee.

Seeing the reactions of his team Lee realized that this masked ninja was probably telling the truth. "YOSH, then let the match begin!" Lee then immediately leapt at Chimera yelling 'KONOHA SENPUU!' as he sent a powerful kick towards his head.

Despite Lee's immense speed, Chimera was still faster, he dodged aside from Lee's kick and as soon as he landed, he dashed forward and punched Lee right in the chest, he was sent back a few feet and hit the wall, hard. When Lee hit the ground there were cracks in the stone. Team 7's fear of Chimera increased another notch.

He nodded towards the two "Let's go it would be best to not be late." And began to move towards the door.

At that moment Lee began to get up, and Chimera noticed, he nodded his head toward Lee said "Good match." And left his with his 'teammates' behind him.

As they approached the door that held the room where the first exam would take place, they were confronted by the Uchiha-lover Hatake Kakashi.

He proceeded to lie through his teeth about teamwork and then let them through, where they entered the stage for the first exam.

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(1) Haku is a guy in this fic 

And done, sorry for the wait but I was sick, also sorry for those who wanted to see Sasuke die, or Haku or Zabuza live, but I couldn't fit a living Haku or Zabuza into the fic and Sasuke has plenty of time before he gets what's coming to him. 

Read, Review, and above all else Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger 


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings readers, writers, and arithmetic doers, I am here today (night) to introduce to you Naruto the Chimera Chapter, what

Greetings readers, writers, and arithmetic doers, I am here today (night) to introduce to you Naruto the Chimera Chapter, what are we on six?, chapter six. Read it, and enjoy it.

Oh, just so you know I am only going to adapt one more thing and you will see it in this chapter, if you can guess what it is after seeing it before you read the author's note at the end, congratulations you get nothing.

All disclaimers, messages and all that crap are in the previous five chapters, I don't feel like typing it out right now.

Let's get this started

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Last time

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As they approached the door at the end of the hall, they met up with their Uchiha-loving sensei who proceeded to lie between his teeth about teamwork for a while and then stood aside, as Team 7 entered the stage for the first chuunin exam.

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The first thing that happened was that they were barraged by an onslaught of glares. Apparently their team was one of the last to arrive and had caught the attention of just about everyone in the entire room which was filled with bloodthirsty and nervous wannabe ninjas, with a few exceptions. Those ones were the ones to look out for, the rest weren't worth a glance.

They stood there in silence, Sakura fidgeting, Sasuke looking arrogant and tough, despite the fact that he was pathetic, and Chimera just stood there, hands in sleeves like nothing was wrong with the world. The silence didn't last long however as Uchiha slut/fangirl number two AKA Yamanaka Ino showed up yelled "SASUKE-KUN!" and proceeded to glomp him from behind. Any straight man would enjoy it, but Sasuke looked like he would rather be dead.

"Man this is so troublesome, you guys are here too? Is there anyone who DIDN'T show up?" asked the laziest Konoha gennin in recent history AKA Nara Shikamaru, while his friend and teammate Akimichi Choji proceeded to eat his bag of chips with single-minded abandon.

While Shikamaru made this Herculean effort, the stuff was about to hit the fan as Sakura began to bicker with Ino over 'Sasuke glomping rights' and it looked like it was about to devolve into a no-holds-barred catfight between the two until another presence made itself known, and distracted them.

"Wow, it looks like all the rookie 9 are here, it's going to be fun eh Sasuke?" asked local mutt and dog-lover Inuzuka Kiba while Shino stayed silent and watched, and the third teammate Hyuuga Hinata looked over towards Shino with a blush on her face.**(1)**

The six talked among themselves for a few minutes while Shino thought about bugs, Hinata thought about Shino, and Chimera thought about bloody carnage carried out by him.

Then came a voice that no one recognized "Hey, you guys should quiet down a bit, you're attracting a lot of attention." The first 8 looked around and saw that the voice came from an unassuming boy with white hair and large, round glasses. Then they looked around the room and saw that everyone and their grandmother were staring at them with intent to kill.

The boy continued with his advice. "You guys should be more careful, everyone here is all nervous because of the exam, they're a bit on edge, and you are making them irritated."

"Oh, and who the heck are you 'Mr. I know everything'". Asked the local mutt, guess who.

"Oh, my apologies, my name is Yakushi Kabuto, and I am a Konoha ninja, a friend. I just wanted to share some information with you guys because you are obviously new at this; you must be the rookies that are entering the exams this year, right?"

Seeing most of them nod, he continued "Anyway I just wanted to help you guys out, I remember the first time I took the exam, and I don't really want anyone to go through THAT unprepared."

At that point Sakura asked "So, is this your second time taking the exam then, Kabuto-san?"

"No, actually this is… my seventh." He said to everyone's shock and in one case suspicion.

"SEVENTH, man this is so troublesome, this exam must really be as hard as everyone says, huh?" asked the local closet-genius.

"Oh yeah, definitely, the chuunin exams happen twice a year, so this will be my fourth year. But all that time hasn't gone to waste, though. I have recorded almost everything I know on these nin-info cards." Said the silver-haired boy, pulling out a deck of dark orange cards."

'Four years? There's more to this guy than meets the eye. In that much time, even modest talents can grow a few teeth. He's definitely someone to look out for.' Thought the masked 'gennin'

"Nin-info cards?" asked the local pink-haired fangirl as she eyed the deck.

"Yeah, I have accumulated about 200 in the last four years on a variety of topics, for example…." He then reached into the deck and pulled out one card, flipping it over, and revealing that it was completely white.

"It's blank." Asked the supposedly-smart Haruno.

"Of course it's blank, I can't have just anyone looking at these, however if I add my chakra to the card… voila!" As he said this he put a finger to the card and began to spin it, after a few seconds there was a puff of smoke and it revealed a map with a bar graph.

"This is the number of gennin each village has sent to take the exam. Konoha has the most, being the host village that's to be expected, followed by Suna who sent a smaller number; the lowest number comes from a pretty new village Otogakure, who only sent one team. They're pretty new so I don't know much about them." He then put the map away after turning it blank again.

"I also have information on individual ninja taking the exam, it isn't anywhere close to complete, but I have at least something on almost everyone here. Anyone you want the dirt on?" he asked the assembled rookies, with one exception.

Noted exception said "Sabaku **no Gaara from Suna."**

At the same time Sasuke said "Chimera of Konoha." Everyone stared at this, why would someone want information on their own teammate?

Kabuto was a tad disappointed at that and said so. "Man, you know there names? That takes all of the fun out of it, but oh well, here they are." Said the white haired ninja as he pulled out two cards from the deck.

"First up is Sabaku no Gaara. Let's see here … his teammates are Sabaku no Kankuro and Sabaku no Temari, his big brother and sister, I don't have anything on personal skills, but as for his mission record he has 14 C-Ranks and whoa one B-Rank, and according to this he came back from every mission without so much as a scratch."

This got mixed reactions from everyone, most of them were surprised, scared or both, while Chimera was smiling under his mask, he was looking forward to the possible fun that Gaara could give him in battle, he doubted the fight would last long though.

"Okay next up is Chimera. His teammates are Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, and his sensei is Hatake Kakashi, mission record is 12 D-Ranks and 1 C-Rank, I don't have much else on him except for a few tidbits. Oh this is interesting. According to this during his gennin test he effortlessly defeated Hatake Kakashi, and left him with serious wounds after their fight, he was in the hospital for two days after the test. Oh something else is that no one can seem to have any sort of joyful thought in his presence, that's kind of … odd." At that point everyone in the room was looking at Chimera with fear and the people closest to him realized that they hadn't had a cheerful thought since he got close to them. The fear increased when he next spoke.

"It wasn't much **of a fight really, he tried to disable me and I cut him open like a fish, I **could have killed him but I didn't feel like it at the time, so I let Sakura drag him to the hospital." Creeping out everyone with his two-toned voice.

At that point any and all thoughts were somewhere along the lines of 'WTF he beat a JOUNIN!? Stay the fuck away from him!' and all thoughts of violence in his presence were murdered in their sleep for fear that the same would happen to them later.

At that point a scarred man in a black bandana and squad of chuunin entered the room and immediately shouted out "QUIET DOWN MAGGOTS! MY NAME IS MORINO IBIKI, I AM THE PROCTOR OF THE FIRST EXAM AND FROM THIS MOMENT ON, YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!"

At that point the newly named Ibiki explained the rules behind the first exam, which Chimera already knew, and everyone proceeded to cheat to get the answers to the questions, or in a few cases answer them through their own book smarts. The whole thing was boring as hell, in Chimera's opinion, until the last fifteen minutes rolled around, and then it became somewhat interesting.

The proctor proceeded to tell them the special rules for the tenth question which included the rules that if you don't take it, you fail, if you take it and get it wrong, you never get to take the exam again. Chimera, knowing all the answers and the secret the first exam proceeded to take the question and release a massive amount of killing intent upon his teammates, paralyzing them so that they could not raise their hands even if they wanted to.

After a time, Ibiki proceeded to tell the room that they have passed the first exam. He then proceeded to explain the idea behind the exam and the reasoning behind the tenth question. That you need to be able to obtain accurate information and be able to make a tough choices in your life as a ninja, thus making him the fourth Konoha ninja Chimera had ever met who made sense, the first three being the Sandaime, his son Asuma and the jounin Yuuhi Kurenai. It's really sad that the list is that small, but Konoha has never been quite right as a general rule. 

At that point a scantily clad woman in fishnet and a trench coat burst through the window landing in front of a message that read 'THE PROCTOR OF THE SECOND EXAM, THE SEXY AND SINGLE MITARASHI ANKO!!'

She then proceeded to tell Ibiki that he had lost his touch since he let twenty teams pass. "Well we have a lot more promising shinobi in this batch then normal."

"Whatever, by the time that I am done with them, at least half of them will be gone. Anyway, follow me to the location of the second exam!" After saying that she promptly jumped out of the window she broke when she entered the room.

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Forest of Death 10 Minutes later

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It took ten minutes for all twenty teams, which included the rookie 9, Kabuto's team, Lee's team, and Gaara's team as well as the team from Oto, to get to the meeting place and location of second exam, Training Ground #44 also known as the Forest of Death.

The first thing Anko did was pass out waivers for all of the gennin to sign because 'If anyone dies I don't want it to be my problem.' After everyone had their form she began to explain the second exam.

"You will exchange your signed waivers at the booth over there and in return you will receive a scroll this will be either a Heaven Scroll or an Earth Scroll. You will enter the Forest of Death and you will have 5 days to obtain the other scroll. After you have obtained one of each type of scroll, you will head to the tower at the center of the forest. You will be disqualified if you do one of the following: 1. you do not make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit of 5 days. 2. You die. 3. You open the scrolls before you make it to the tower with both scrolls. You got it? Good, now go and get your scrolls and report to the gate you are assigned to, THE SECOND EXAM WILL BEGIN IN 15 MINUTES!" She then proceeded to oversee the general operations as everyone obtained their scrolls.

Fifteen minutes later after everyone had obtained their scrolls and reported to their respective gate, a message came from the speakers over each gate 'THE SECOND EXAM HAS BEGUN!' at that point the gates all opened simultaneously and the twenty teams poured into Training Ground 44.

They had been running into the forest for about five minutes when they stopped because Sakura got tired. "You really **need to work on your stamina Sakura; **you get worn out far too easily."

"Right, I haven't gotten in a lot of training recently." Said the pink-haired Uchiha-whore, trying to protect her pride. This process continued on for a few more times until Sakura finally gave out and they had to make camp.

At that point Sasuke was about to start his watch when Chimera, who had been sitting on the floor until now, got up and started to walk away into the forest.

"Where are you going, you freak." Asked the closet homosexual.

"I am going to find us an Earth Scroll, the rest of the teams will be starting to settle down now, so it's the best time, no one will get our** scroll, I will keep it safe, just make sure that you and the weakling don't die while I am gone."** Then Chimera vanished into the night in the Forest of Death. **(2)**

He was searching the forest for a team of victims when he encountered a group of Kiri ninja being stalked by team 8. He grinned to himself as he thought 'perfect, I get the scroll I need and I get to show off in front of the little kids.'

He dropped in front of the three Kiri Nin much to their surprise and the surprise of Team 8 who were watching from the bushes, who were hoping to see what this 'enigma' was capable of. The only oddity was that Kiba's dog Akamaru immediately whimpered in fear when he saw the masked ninja, much to Kiba's concern, the little guy doesn't get that scared easily

The lead Kirin in was a very cocky and arrogant individual; he saw the masked figure and the three of them immediately discounted him because he was alone. "Hey guys, it looks like this punk thinks that he can take us on all by himself, how long do you think it will take to kill him?"

One of the other Nin immediately said "Two or three minutes at the most. He looks really weak." "Your right, let's just make this quick, give us your scroll and we'll let you live, what do you say?" This last sentence was directed towards Chimera.

Chimera was shocked by the lead Kiri ninja's display of arrogance, but against his better judgment he decided to give him a chance to live. "I will offer you a choice, **I will take your scroll or I will take your heads, choose which one it shall be." **

"Hah, like you'll EVER get your hands on this!" That was the Kiri ninja shouting as he pulled an Earth Scroll out of his belt pouch, put it back and then charged at his enemy, sword in hand.

"So then, you choose for me **to take your heads, so be it."** That was all Chimera said as his 'opponent' drew closer, he waited until the last possible moment and then dodged to the side, as he did so however, he tapped the back of the Kiri ninja's head.

The Kiri Nin rushed by and then managed to stop and turn around. "What the hell was that? I always knew that Konoha Nin were weak, and this just proves…." He probably would have gone on for a while, but his head exploded before he could continue.

The Kiri Nin were scared out of their skin, as was Team 8, I mean he just killed someone just by making physical contact! Kiba's Nin dog, Akamaru was going crazy, doing his best to hide himself in his master's coat. And Kiba wished he had a coat to hide in too.

The first thing the Kiri ninjas did was beg for their lives. "Please, you can have the scroll, just let us go, you don't need to kill us right?" They pleaded as their voices got more and more shrill until Kiba's dog was actually whimpering in a bit of pain.

That didn't last long however as Chimera did to them what he did to the leader of the Kiri team, two exploded heads and one obtained Earth Scroll later, he looked directly at Team 8 to let them know that he knew that they were there and then headed off back towards his team's camp, he couldn't trust either of them with anything. Team 8 sighed in relief happy just to be alive at that point.

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Team 7 was running through the forest the next day towards the tower as they had both scrolls, much to the Uchiha's resentment. But they were making very slow progress due to the fact that the kunoichi on their team had all the stamina of an Academy Student, they had to stop every 5-10 minutes, it was getting to the point where they were actually considering carrying her, but Chimera didn't want anything to do with her, and Sasuke was secretly gay and wouldn't touch a woman with a ten foot pole, hence slow progress. 

It was during one of these said breaks so the weakest ninja of the year could catch her breath when an enormous gust of wind blew the clearing apart. Chimera got out of the way of course, as did Sasuke, pulling Sakura out of the way out of pure instinct.

At that point they were confronted by a creepy looking Kusa Kunoichi who proceed to paralyze them with pure killing intent, just like Chimera did during the first exam, but it wasn't quite as effective as Sasuke managed to stab himself in the leg and dodge out of the way of a thrown kunai, fangirl in tow, as he hid himself in the trees.

'Where the hell is Chimera, this is sort of thing you need him around for, to deal with other freaks like him.' Were the thoughts of the secretly gay Uchiha as he looked around for the Kusa ninja, jumpy as a rabbit on Crack.

Odd that despite his activated Sharingan and increased state of awareness that he didn't notice the gigantic snake creeping up behind him ready to take a bite out of him, the fangirl did however, and let out her usual banshee scream alerting the Uchiha and making him turn around, and noticing the enormous snake, threw a barrage of shuriken and kunai at the snake's head, piercing it in several places, and making it fall.

The Uchiha sighed in relief as he saw the snake fall to the ground, believing the threat to be gone. He couldn't be more wrong however as he heard the voice of the Kusa kunoichi from before "Ku ku ku Sasuke-kun, so strong for someone your age, and such lovely eyes, it's a wonder It took you so long to graduate from the academy. But you are still prey and you cannot let down your guard In the presence of your _predator."_ As the woman said this she emerged from beneath the scales of the snake, like some sort of parasite, and lunged towards Sasuke, twisting and twining around the branches of the enormous trees with inhuman speed and flexibility that was almost serpentine.

At that point a loud voice called out first like an angel, then like a devil. "Orochimaru, I thought that was you, but **I wasn't absolutely sure until I saw the snake summons, tell me what do you have planned for **my so-called teammate? I won't stop you unless it's fatal, in that case I would have to in order to pass the exam, but anything else is **fine by me." **The voice was creepy, beyond creepy, it had no definite point of origin, it came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, it was impossible to NOT be intimidated by it, even if you're Orochimaru of the Sannin apparently as he actually answered. "It's quite simple really, I am just going to give him a little gift, my Ten no Juin. Nothing dangerous." He obviously didn't know the danger he was in himself from the bearer of the two-toned voice.

"Just that then? Very **well I shall not interfere; I feel no obligation to protect my teammates**, as long as your seal does not end in my disqualification from the exams, than you may do as you wish." Then the voice did not sound again, but if you knew how, you could feel _someone's _presence, not enough to find its location, but enough so that you could tell it was there. You could also feel malice in the air, enough to rival the Kyuubi itself, like it knew that pain was going to be felt and it planned to enjoy it.

And that was exactly what happened, Sasuke fought well for a gennin, but no gennin no matter how good could possibly go up against one of the Sannin and hope to win, Sakura was knocked out within a few moments and Sasuke received the Ten no Juin by a bite to the neck just a minute and a half later, after that the snake looked around the surrounding area, trying to find the odd presence he felt in the air, he decided to leave after he could not find it, leaving his victims unconscious.

A few minutes later, Sasuke woke up, Juin activated and absolutely bloodthirsty.**(3)** Seeing no one around he turned upon his out-cold teammate, about to kill her in her sleep until Chimera appeared in his way.

"Freak, fight me!" He roared and charged at his masked teammate the mad dash didn't last long however, as he got hit with the same attack he got hit with the last time he fought Chimera, only it was at 30 percent instead of 20 percent, which in his level 1 Ten no Juin had the same effect, knocking him out, blowing him away and cutting him up a bit, at that point he swallowed his rising bile, and picked up his unconscious teammates and ran to the tower at full speed.

They were there in 3 minutes 22 second and they were 3 ½ kilometers away.

XXXXXXXXX

The tower was boring as hell, in Chimera's opinion. They had jack shit to do for three days straight, except talk to the other teams that arrived, by the time the 5-day testing period ended, a grand total of seven teams had made it through the forest of death, they were:

Team 7 consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Chimera

Team 8 consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata

Team 9 consisting of Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten

Team 10 consisting of Yamanaka Ino, Akimich Choji, and Nara Shikamaru

The Suna team consisting of Sabaku no Kankuro, Sabaku no Temari and Sabaku no Gaara

The Oto team consisting of Abumi Zaku, Tsuchi Kin and Kinuta Dosu

And Kabuto's team consisting of Yaroi, Misumi, and Yakushi Kabuto himself, not much competition in Chimera's eyes.

But still, they were all lined up at the end of the fifth day to hear the Hokage give a speech on how the Chuunin exams are a substitute for war and that each of them carried the pride of their villages as they went into the Third and Final Exam.

Then he dropped the bombshell that there would have to be preliminaries due to the fact that there were simply too many people who had passed the Second Exam, and the people who would show up to watch the Third Exam would only be allowed to see the very best, so they had to cut out some 'driftwood'. This was the actual term that the Third Exam proctor, Hayate Gekko, used to describe the situation. First though he asked if anyone would like to quit now, and only got one answering call, Yakushi Kabuto had apparently been worn out in the Forest of Death and didn't believe that he could go on.

At that point they revealed a panel in the wall that scrolled through a list of names at random to decide the preliminary match-ups. The first match was 

'Yaroi vs. Uchiha Sasuke'

The two stayed in the arena as the rest of the applicants went up to the balcony to watch the fights.

Yaroi showed an interesting ability that allowed him to absorb his opponent's chakra that really took it out of the young Uchiha 'prodigy' who, despite the use of his Sharingan** (4)** still couldn't completely avoid it all, eventually he managed to hit him with a combination of shuriken, and ninja wire to immobilize him, then fried him with a Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu. The fight didn't last long.

The second through fifth fights didn't last long either, with Shikamaru beating Kin, Shino beating Zaku, Dosu beating Choji, and then a pathetic display ending in a draw between Yamanaka Ino, and Haruno Sakura, that match was just sad, then came an interesting fight between Sabaku no Temari and Tenten which ended in Temari's victory thanks to her Fuuton jutsu. Then came another interesting fight between Misumi and Kankuro, which ended in Kankuro's victory thanks to a bit of duplicity with his puppet Karasu. Then came a fight that had everyone on the edge of their seats: Rock Lee vs. Sabaku no Gaara, which truly surprised Chimera, with Lee's ferocity, speed, and skill, as he opened five of the eight Hachimon Gates, and used both the Omote Renge and the Ura Renge against Gaara and he STILL lost due to the fact that Gaara's mastery over sand protected him against any attack, and then crushed Lee's left arm and right leg, leaving him potentially permanently crippled. Chimera was VERY interested to see how much punishment Gaara's sand shield could take after seeing that match.

The only downside was that it left the Arena pretty trashed, but Hayate took care of it. "Due to the fact that the arena has been badly damaged, we will take a ten minute break while I fix it, in the meantime however we will show the match-up for the next fight. At that point as the names wound by a few thoughts went through Kiba's head 'let's see the only people left would be Neji, Hinata, me, and that Chimera freak, just don't put me against him, that's all I ask.'

Kiba's wish was not to be granted however as the names on the screen read: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Chimera. Only one thought went through Kiba's mind at that point 'oh shit.' At that point he chuckled nervously and said to his team "Um, I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." As he started to walk away, however, a cold voice sounded out. "Why don't you tell them the real reason you **are leaving, you are afraid because you know that you are about to die."** He looked back, and Chimera was standing just a few feet behind him. "What on Earth are you talking about, you freak?!" Kiba yelled, highly angered.

"The truth, you saw **me fight in the forest and you know that soon the same will happen to you, so say the **appropriate prayers, because I have never been one to cause a painless end." He said it scary too, with no melodrama in it whatsoever, he made it sound like a chore that he had to do, and Kiba, at that moment knew the meaning of fear. Then he was gone, doing whatever it is he does in his spare time.

The next ten minutes passed with anticipation in the case of many the only exceptions were everyone on Team 8 who were worried for their teammate and Kiba himself who was practically wetting himself, when Hayate finally finished fixing the floor with Doton Ninjutsu, Kiba walked down to the ring and Chimera simply appeared there, the creepiness went up another notch.

"I applaud you for your bravery, very** few go through with fighting me after seeing what I can do. So tell me, **would you like to be buried in that or in something decent?"

Kiba got pissed and therefore disregarded his previous plan to forfeit, with a quick "Shut up you bastard!" He did a few handsigns and used his clan's Hijutsu to make himself more beast-like and charged at Chimera, elbow extended to hit him in the neck, what he didn't notice were the cracks that went through the ground and went past Kiba as he struck Chimera in the throat making a loud CRACK as the delicate bones shattered. Kiba was shocked, he didn't expect the guy to go down that easily, but the jounin in the room suspected that something was amiss, the fact that he was still standing was odd in itself, but Kiba was too relieved to bother, the first thing out of his mouth was "Oi, Ref, call the match, this one is over!" Kankuro held similar sentiments as did Kakashi and Sasuke 'I knew he was all talk' was the general consensus of the three, but as Hayate moved over to inspect the 'body' something happened that nobody expected. Five long tendrils came out of the ground and impaled Kiba in the shoulders, arms and one through the stomach. Everyone froze, then the five tendrils retracted and everyone saw where they came from, a hand that had popped out of the ground behind Kiba, the 'tendrils' were actually the five fingers on the hand.

A figure rose out from behind Kiba, and it was none other then Chimera, alive, and well. "w-what the hell, that was a bunshin?!" Kiba stuttered as he tried not to collapse from the immense pain.

"Oh no, that is no mere bunshin, I can **assure you that we are one and the same."**

With that he pulled his left hand out of the ground and a vast trench was ripped in the ground and it was seen that the original 'Chimera' was actually his left arm!

"You see I can control my body down to the last cell, I just wanted to get your hopes up, **in all actuality, your supposedly killing blow had just enough force to bend one of my fingers, and **crack the joint.

While he said this the 'bunshin' twisted until it was nothing more than Chimera's left hand.

"My abilities are very unique, the only way to actually kill me would be to pierce my heart or my brain, but you have no idea where they actually are, as **they are never in the same place for very long.**"**(5)** While he said this he held out his right hand, and a blob of flesh rose out of it, pulsating in the rhythm of a heart and a brain-shaped object extended out of the side of his head, this only lasted a few seconds, as they both retracted into his body.

"Whenever you attack **I can just move my organs and blood vessels out of **the way, so you will only ever inflict a flesh wound. That combined **with my incredibly rapid healing factor makes it **almost impossible to kill me. So forget anything you may no about human anatomy, it won't help you here. It's kind of like trying **to find a needle in a haystack, but the needle can move whenever it wants to.**

Needless to say the entire room was held in either surprise, anger, jealousy, fear, excitement, revulsion, or a mixture of any of those and/or more.

"Now let's continue our match." And as soon as that was said he dashed forward until he was just a few inches in front of Kiba and used a technique that was last used on Sasuke, only instead of being used at 30 percent he got hit with the technique's full capabilities, and was blown into the wall at the speed of sound, where a loud CRACK was heard as Kiba hit the wall, when the smoke cleared, there was a massive crater in the wall and Inuzuka Kiba layed there, broken battered and dead.

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(1) Most people when they don't have Naruto attend the academy, they pair Hinata with Kiba or Sas-gay himself. I thought to myself, 'Why not Shino, he deserves some tail too.' So I decided to go with something unique, deal with it

(2) I completely forgot what I was going to put here

(3) I decided to cut down on the Ten no Juin's 'Hibernation Period. A bit here

(4) He got the Juin sealed during the three day wait, so he could use his chakra without immense pain.

(5) Elder Toguro's abilities from Yu Yu Hakusho, I was going to use something else originally, but I watched his fight recently and the inspiration bug bit and bit HARD, sorry, I have no will power. But that's the last thing I am stealing, everything new from here on end will be completely original, or from something I already disclaimed.

Okay so what do you guys think, read review and enjoy because this is without a doubt my longest chapter yet. 

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	7. You guys are going to fuckin' LOVE THIS!

Greetings to anyone and everyone who is reading this, and Welcome to Naruto the Chimera ch

Greetings to anyone and everyone who is reading this, and Welcome to Naruto the Chimera ch.7, please keep your eyes on the screen and your arms and legs on the arms of your chair and on the ground.

All disclaimers and anything else are in previous chapters; all lawyers please look there, and then get the hell out.

And without further brilliant dialogue on my part, let the brilliance and worship, and character bashing begin!

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Last Time

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When the smoke cleared, there beneath an enormous crater in the wall, laid Inuzuka Kiba, broken, battered and dead.

XXXXXXXXX

Everyone froze at the sight, there actually wasn't much external damage done, the only indication that he was dead was the fact that the body was slightly lumpy in places where the bones were broken badly, that and the dribble of blood coming from his mouth, and the glaze over his open, horror-filled eyes. Those eyes held true fear and nothing else.

The entire room was grasped in shock, with two exceptions; they were the murderer of the late Inuzuka heir, and the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, Sabaku no Gaara to whom this was nothing new.

The ones who took it the worst were the girls, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Shino, and Sasuke; two of them had just lost a teammate and the other two just realized that being a ninja was not so glamorous, it was very dangerous and eventually they would die too. The last though realized just how dangerous his teammate was; he realized at that moment just how great the difference was between them in body and mind. The only other time he had seen such casual murder was when his brother finally went renegade. He realized that his 'teammate' could kill him, would have no trouble in either execution, or opportunity to do so, and would not regret doing so for an instant, hell he would probably enjoy it. This was a person who had seen death, dealt it, and had not been affected in the slightest, a true ninja, and an entity to be feared.

Chimera simply looked at the body, shrugged and then turned to the proctor and said "Proctor-san, shouldn't **you call the match?"**, what was scary about it was that he said it in the same voice he always used, like he wasn't bothered in the slightest by the fact that he murdered a fellow Konoha Ninja in cold blood, for no other reason than he was selected as his opponent. For just a moment before the kill, everyone felt it, saw past the polite mask he put up most of the time, and saw the real Chimera. A malicious and bloodthirsty person who would kill anyone and everyone who stood in his way, for just a mere second everyone felt his bloodlust and willingness to murder, and it settled upon everyone in the room like a leaden weight. No one was immune to it, not even Gaara, the Jonin, the Hokage, or Orochimaru in disguise. No one was immune to a sudden and immense fear that had gripped everyone in the room. They just realized exactly what was hiding behind that mask, someone who would tear a person limb from limb out of sheer boredom.

Of course the referee still had a job to do, 'after all…' he reasoned 'almost everyone here is a murderer in some degree, it's what a ninja does after all.' Then he said in his normal voice "The winner of the ninth match, Chimera." The moment that was said Chimera vanished, and reappeared next to his team, calm as ever, as a squad if Med-Nins brought out a stretcher to take away the body.

Sakura and Sasuke froze as they felt the familiar cold and joyless void that seemed to surround Chimera and suck the happiness and hope out of everyone he came near, and they were terrified. Just for a moment Sasuke looked, just for a moment, for the first time, into the eyeholes of Chimera's mask, and he saw something in those shadows, in Chimera's left eye, it was subtle, but it was there: madness. He realized just what kind of person Chimera was, a cold, methodical, murdering lunatic. They were the eyes of a person who had killed, hundreds of times over, and had not cared in the slightest, the eyes of someone who had seen Hell, and liked it. Everyone is mad in all actuality at least slightly, mostly among jounin, and the ANBU; you can't really do a job like that and stay what most people would consider normal, it just wasn't possible. Every jounin has their quirks because of it, Kakashi and his book, Asuma and his smoking, Gai and his 'youthfulness', Genma and his senbon, everyone with a grain of strength and experience in the ninja world had something odd about them, those who didn't were the ones to look out for, they were the ones who were prone to snap.

Chimera was no such person, he just enjoyed death in all of it's forms, Sasuke realized it, and in the darkest pits of his soul, he came to the realization that those eyes were exactly how Itachi's looked on the day of the massacre, the color might be different, but they were similar in the most basic level. Sasuke realized, just then, that he would not ever be able to defeat Chimera anytime soon, if ever. He would never admit it, but deep down he prayed that he would never have to face his comrade in the heat of battle. Because, subconsciously, he knew that he would never survive, unless he wanted him to. And that made him angry and jealous, and his hatred for Chimera grew.

Sakura made no such realizations, she just saw someone who had killed like it was just another task, and it terrified her to the point where she yelled, and broke the spell of shock on the room "What the hell did you do?! Why did you take it that far!? What the hell are you, you monster!?"

Chimera looked at her like she just said the moon was made of cheese. "You ask what I did? I think it was** quite obvious really, I killed my opponent, like I told him I would, **he had a chance to surrender and leave with his life, but his own pride stopped his common sense. **Why I took it that far? I overestimated him really. I thought he might be strong enough to survive it,** oh well. As for what I am, I don't really know myself, it's a good question, one I would like **answered, because I honestly and truly have no idea what I am, it's **quite odd."

"But WHY, why did you kill him, you didn't have to you monster!? You didn't have to take it that far!"

He just looked at her, and cocked his head slightly to one side and replied "Why are you making such a big deal out of it? **It's not like it wouldn't happen eventually anyway, besides death isn't something to be afraid of,** not really. After all, death is woven into the fabric of humanity; it's a part of everyone. Humans are made **of many individual parts that all die, and then are reborn and remade, **it's an endless cycle, and a fact we must face, death is a part of everyone. Dead flesh adorns us all, even now**, nails, hair, skin, people decorate them, we deal with death on some level every day**, it's not something to be feared, it is not some horrible monster, she is a lover **waiting to take us all into her arms, you can feel her touch if you know what it's like, **cold, slow, sweet. Who knows what truly happens when we die? For all we know, the late Kiba may have even enjoyed it." **(1)**

At that point, everyone realized that he was mad at some level, and correct at the same time, and they were all shocked at the thoughts that he put in their minds, that death might even be a good thing, it was the thought of a madman, but at some level, they acknowledged it's truth and the level of fear felt for Chimera grew and grew.

"Y-y-your insane, it's the only possible explanation!"

"I don't think I am insane,** then again, if I WAS, I doubt I would **recognize it, so you may actually be right, who knows. If I am, then I must say **I have no problems with it whatsoever."**

Then Hayate continued with his job as a referee, completely ignoring said disturbing dialogue which everyone heard and said "Would Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Neji please come down to the arena for the final match?" Then he noticed that it was unnecessary. Between her teammates' death and the madness she was exposed to afterwards, Hinata had feinted, and looked like she would be out for a while. "Very well then, the winner by default is Hyuuga Neji." At that point, no one really cared.

Then the 9 finalists convened before the jounin and the Hokage who explained the Third Exam, and then gave one final announcement before they all left for home. "The third Chuunin Exam will take place in one month. Until then, prepare yourselves for your opponents, who we shall now decide." He then nodded towards Ibiki who took a box and held it out in front of each individual gennin as they took a piece of paper from it. As the numbers were read out, Ibiki wrote them down upon a slate he had with him, and when all 9 were read and the last name entered, he showed them what he wrote. It was a tournament match up board and the rounds went like this:

Hyuuga Neji vs. Chimera

Sabaku no Gaara vs. Uchiha Sasuke

Aburame Shino vs. Sabaku no Kankuro

Sabaku no Temari vs. the winner of match 5

Kinuta Dosu vs. Nara Shikamaru

Neji suddenly became very nervous, and suddenly discovered a massive urge to train.

"You know who your opponents are, and you have seen how they fight, train hard and prepare yourselves for the next Exam, you are dismissed!"

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In Chimera's opinion the next month was as boring as hell. Sasuke was spirited away by Kakashi for 'private training' for the finals which probably included them sharing a bed together, enjoying the proximity and more. Meanwhile, Sakura was doing nothing, and the other teams were helping whatever teammates who made it into the finals get stronger. They may say that it is so they have the best chance to become Chuunin, but he knew the real reason that they were training so hard was so they could hope to live through the match if they were unfortunate enough to go up against him, which in the case of Gennin, Chuunin, and all but the most powerful jonin, it might as well be a formal execution, it would probably be less painful than what he would do to them.

He thought back for a while, he had let his mask slip, it was just for one fight, but it still slipped, he had intended to play innocent until the Sandaime died, but he had let his real somewhat bloodthirsty nature get the better of him during that fight, and he wondered what had caused it.

Then he finally came to a reasonable conclusion, Orochimaru.

There were sixteen known people in the entire world who could fight him and hope to win, and seeing one of them caused a lot of excitement, it was only because he wanted to conceal his real abilities from his 'teammates' that he didn't try and take him down then and there. Well that and his long-term plans. He knew that he would eventually leave the village, and he had plans for what to do and where to go when the time finally came, and for those to work the way he planned, he would need Orochimaru alive, until he was prepared.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that he was bored out of his mind, and then he came to his senses. He had apparently been wandering around town while he was thinking and he had ended up at the hot springs of all places. He was about to walk in the other direction, until he heard a very distinctive sound, the sound of the 'pervert's giggle'.

He knew of only one great pervert that was any where near Konoha and that was Kakashi, did he come back early? God, he hoped so, if he ratted the man out to a spring full of angry women, he could get a bit closer to even with the bigoted prick, no where near square, mind you, just a small taste of the sort of pain that the man would face when he finally decided to reclaim his debt in full. But that would have to wait until he was settled after he left the village, so at least 8 months, probably a lot longer, depending on a few factors, such as the Sandaime's longevity. The old man, and his debt to him was really the only thing that had kept him from taking Kakashi down, then torturing him to death when he first saw him.

The entire mental ramble came to a swift end as he saw that the man letting out the giggle was not Kakashi, but an older man, with long white hair, and a red vest, he recognized Jiraiya of the Sannin almost immediately.

Now 'this' got Chimera's attention, of the sixteen people who could possibly beat him, Jiraiya was one of the few who had a chance to beat him and walk away from the fight alive and mostly whole, and that was a trait only possessed by 2-3 others on his list of real challenges.

He watched what the man was doing, and couldn't help but ruin the pervert's fun, he moved in on the other side of the hot spring's wall from where the Legendary ninja was peeping and shouted, in as shrill a voice he possibly could "_**PERVERT!!"**_

The effect was spontaneous, and extremely enjoyable to watch. The women, after hearing the call, immediately stampeded out of the hot spring, and circled around the wall, and after finding the pervert, proceeded to beat the living shit out of him, until he resembled someone painted red and assaulted by killer bees the size of cats, based on the slap marks and bumps. Like I said, extremely enjoyable to watch.

After seeing his handiwork, he couldn't help but walk over to the downed hermit, hold out his hand and say "Hello, my name is Chimera; you seem to be in a bit of trouble there Jiraiya-san."

The old ninja blinked and looked into the masked face of the boy offering to help him up, normally he would thank the kid and go, but he had heard of this kid from Sarutobi-sensei, and of course he knew who the kids parents were, and he was supposed to train him, according to Minato's will.

He took the kid's help and was soon on his feet, the first thing out of his mouth, after a quick healing jutsu to stop the worst of the pain and swelling, was "Hey kid, you should be honored, after all you just helped the hermit of the mountain, the legendary Gama Sennin, Jirai-." He would have gone on with this little intro, which came complete with a little dance, had not Chimera detonated one of his explosives behind him, blowing him forward and completely ruining the 'image'.

"I know **who you are, Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin, why** do you think I decided to help you in the first place? I wouldn't do that for some stranger it's not in my nature."

Jiraiya was told everything he knew about Uzumaki Naruto AKA Chimera by his sensei, including his odd two toned voice, but hearing about it, and actually hearing it were two different things. No matter what you may have heard, if you haven't heard his voice, then you ALWAYS got the shivers the first time you heard it, guaranteed.

"Well, thanks kid, tell you what, how about I help you out with your training for the Exam? I heard that you're entered in them and I can be a big help." Asked Jiraiya, aiming to fulfill his promise to his student.

"Thank you, but I doubt that there is anything you can teach me that I don't already know, **have found to be useless, or would be too easy to bother calling it training."**

Jiraiya found it irritating to hear a kid say that he had nothing to teach him, normally he would put the kid through some chakra exercises first before teaching him anything, but he was irritated. He immediately said "Oh really? Alright kid, come with me." He then put his hand on the masked 'boy's' shoulder and used shunshin to move them to a section of flat stone, near a river, which turned into a waterfall a few hundred feet downstream.

"Okay Gaki, let's see if you know this one. This is one jutsu that you would be learning under me." He then bit his thumb, went through a quick series of handseals, then slammed his hand on the ground shouting out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He was then enveloped in a large cloud of smoke, and when it cleared, Jiraiya was seen to be sitting on a toad 2-3 times bigger than he was.

"Well, kid, do you know that one, huh?" Asked the cocky old man, but he was somewhat shocked by his response."

"No, I do not know that **jutsu, and I refuse to learn it. The entire concept of summoning is **using something else to do your fighting for you, and that is something I do not wish to be a part of. As a result I hold **most people who use the jutsu in general contempt."**

"WHAT, are you kidding? That's hardly the point, this jutsu is really useful, what if you go up against an opponent who can summon, you would be screwed without a summon of your own." Said the amazed Sannin, somewhat angry because of what the kid said about the jutsu he used more than any other.

"That hardly matters to me, **I have jutsu specifically meant to take down large summons like Gamabunta or Manda, and nothing other than the boss** summons themselves would help their summoners when facing me."

"Well then aren't you great?" asked the irritated ninja master.

"I just had an idea, how about a bet, Jiraiya-san?" asked the masked boy, suddenly very serious.

"What kind of bet Gaki?" replied the legendary pervert.

"A simple one, you shall show me one technique that I would be able to learn, the most difficult one you can think of, and in return I will show you one of my original techniques, and each will try to learn the other's jutsu, the one who learns the other's technique first is the winner."

"Sounds nice, what are the stakes?" asked the Sannin, confident in victory.

"Simple, if you win, then I will become your apprentice like you want me too."

"Okay, but if you win?" asked the Sannin, hoping to fulfill his promise to his prized student.

"If I win, then you must call me Chimera-sensei and show me all of the respect the title demands for the rest of your life!" asked the very amused masked ninja.

Jiraiya thought about it, those were some high stakes on his part. If he won, then he would be able to make good on his promise to Minato, and learn a new technique at the same time, but if he lost then he would be humiliated for the rest of time. In his mind, he didn't have much choice in the matter, and he was determined to win.

"Okay kid, you have got yourself a bet." Said the ninja, holding out his hand.

"Good, now then let's see your technique, then I will show you mine, then the competition can get under way. You must show the technique and explain what it does and how to learn it." Replied the masked man, as confident as the Sannin in this wager as he shook the older man's hand.

"No problem." Replied the old pervert as he walked over to a nearby tree.

"This technique is called the 'Rasengan' it's a sphere of controlled, spiraling chakra that you would slam into your opponent, and tearing him apart, like so." He then proceeded to form the technique in one hand, and decimate the tree with it.

"It's learned in three stages with each one more difficult than the last one, in the first you will pop a water balloon just by spinning the water inside the balloon, I will explain each of the three as you master the previous one." As he said so he gave Chimera a water balloon, and taking one out for himself, demonstrated the first step. "Understand?" seeing him nod he then asked "Okay, now what's your technique?" asked the old ninja, expecting something simple like a kawarimi.

"Pay attention because this is difficult and somewhat lengthy. The technique doesn't really have a name yet, like your technique, it doesn't require handseals. In a nutshell, you take your chakra and solidify it into an object of your choice." He then put one hand in front of him, there was a massive convalescence of chakra and an object formed, a small grenade, he then threw it over his shoulder, detonating the explosive and demolishing the area around it.

"As you might expect, this is extremely difficult, as you must solidify and shape the chakra into the form of the object you wish to create, on both the outside, and anything on the inside, and change it into the elements you need. This requires great imagination, chakra levels, and control over it that a medic-nin would lust after like a dog in heat. It is extremely difficult, and even after it's made, the object would only last a few hours before dissolving unless you pour more chakra into it, so it's best to create things that would only have one use, like an explosive, rather than something meant to last and be used again and again, like a kunai. It is worth it, however, because after you master this technique, you can create ANYTHING you want or need, even living things. However you must be careful to keep what you want to create in your mind, especially on the inside for a single mistake could ruin your creation. For practice purposes, it's best to go for something small, and solid throughout like a kunai, rather than something complex like a bomb, it's easier. The larger or more complex the object, the more chakra it takes and the harder it is to make, understand?"

Jiraiya was completely flabbergasted, this was impossible! Making something from chakra? It was unheard of and he told him as such.

"T-that's impossible, you can't make something from chakra, and you DEFINITELY can't make something alive!"

"Aww, you don't believe me? Fine then, here's more proof, my technique in action." He then created another grenade like before, and it had the same results. "As for the living things remark…." He then set his hand in front of him, and it was obvious that he was concentrating very hard, there was a massive surge of chakra, and a sphere began to form, shrinking and solidifying, blue turning black, until a medium sized rabbit was sitting in his palm.

He let out a strained breath, and said "See, HAH, Kami-sama eat your heart your heart out." He then let the rabbit go in the nearby woods and said to the old ninja, "Living things are the hardest to make, you have to focus on its appearance, as well as everything on the inside as well as all of the bodily functions, all at once. However, unlike inanimate objects, they will last because they have their own chakra system. Impressive, eh?"

"Well, I showed you my technique, and you showed me yours, so let the competition begin!" He then picked up the water balloon and started spinning the water inside easily. Jiraiya tried to mimic Chimera, by first compressing his chakra as much as possible and thinking of a kunai, 1 ½ minutes later, Chimera popped the balloon, Jiraiya was getting nowhere fast, and he showed him the second step to the Rasengan, and gave him a rubber ball. As Chimera started on that and Jiraiya tried to create a kunai from his chakra he suddenly thought 'My reputation as a badass is officially FUCKED!'

One minute, forty-five seconds later Chimera finished the second step, Jiraiya still hadn't gotten close to creating anything, as he showed Chimera the third and final step and told him how the steps taught the technique, gave him an everyday party balloon, and returned to futilely trying to mimic Kami-Sama himself.

Two minutes later, the skull masked ninja had done it and performed a perfect Rasengan upon the tree next to the one Jiraiya decimated, obtaining similar results, to the old ninja's shock, he then approached the old man and said six words "I win our bet, Jiraiya-Chan."

Dreading the beating his pride and reputation were going to take from this he said the only thing he could "Yes you did, Chimera-Sensei." Hell just froze over.

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IN HELL

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Satan: WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THE FUCKING ICICLES!!

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The day of the Chuunin exams, in the Arena

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It was the day of the Chuunin exams and people from far and wide had come to see the various ninjas show off what they had, it was quite the event. Six of the eight finalists arrived well before time, only Chimera and Uchiha Sasuke had not arrived, however, just before the Third Exam's proctor, Genma Shiranui, started giving his speech, a large puff of smoke came out of nowhere, and there stood the one person all of the finalists feared, Chimera, with Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin at his side.

Everyone there was even more scared, I mean, if this guy was a badass, how strong would he be after training with a Sannin for a month? What they heard next scared them even more, and shocked the audience.

Jiraiya, the most powerful of the Densetsu no Sannin said only a few words, and then vanished with a shunshin. The words were "Good luck, as if you need it Chimera-sensei." At that point the finalists almost wet themselves. What kind of strength would you need to have in order for one of the SANNIN to call you sensei? And the most powerful of the three, no less?

At that point, Chimera got in line and listened to Genma's memorized speech, but the only parts he listened to were the last few words.

"Would the finalists, except the contestants of the first match, Hyuuga Neji and Chimera, please go up to the waiting area?" At that point, it was less of a controlled walk and more like a mad dash of fear to get away from Chimera.

Hyuuga Neji faced off against Chimera across the stage as massive bets were placed upon the 'mystery man' to defeat the 'Hyuuga's Pride' until the bets were closed when Genma yelled "The first match of The Chuunin Final Exam, Hyuuga Neji, VS. Chimera, HAJIME!"

The crowd roared as the first match began.

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(1) God, can I be creepy when I want to be, or what?

And that is the 7th Chapter, What do you guys think?

Read, Review, and Enjoy (Emphasis on review)

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	8. Chapter 8

Greetings to my loyal and devoted cult members, I mean readers

Greetings to my loyal and devoted cult members, I mean readers. Welcome to the next chapter of Naruto the Chimera, all disclaimers are in the first few chapters, as are any messages to the masses, they haven't changed, anyway you guys didn't come here to see my ramble, you came here to see a new chapter, so here you go, enjoy.

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Last time

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Hyuuga Neji faced Chimera from across the arena as various bets were placed on either the 'Mystery Man' or the 'Hyuuga's Pride', until all bets were closed when the Exam's proctor, Genma Shiranui yelled for all to here "The first match of the Chuunin Exam finals, Hyuuga Neji vs. Chimera, HAJIME!"

The crowd roared as the first highly anticipated match began.

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Genma leapt away from the arena and on top of the wall in front of the front seats as soon as he told them to start, he really didn't want to get caught in the cross-fire that was sure to come with Chimera in the match. He saw his prelim fight, he knew that the other boy was probably a goner unless he stepped in at the last second, and he was prepared to do so, he had to be ready to go in at a moments notice, or else the Hyuuga boy, no matter how good he was, would probably die in a lightning fast strike, like the Inuzuka did before him.

The fight got off to a rather innocuous start, they just stared each other down in an attempt to scare the other. Neji flared as much killing intent as he could, putting off so much chakra that it was almost visible, activated his Byakugan and gave Chimera the patented 'Hyuuga death glare'.

Of course no one really understood what Chimera did in turn.

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Neji POV

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When a person flares their chakra it was different for everyone, depending on their strength, elemental affinity, and a few other factors and it could be very different from one person to the next.

Neji had seen a lot for a gennin, he had watched the jonin spar to try and see where he ranked up and had seen quite a variety of chakra surges and patterns. He had seen masters of fire techniques whose chakra had made the temperature around them flare into the ranges of over one-hundred degrees, water users whose strength caused his blood to run cold, masters of lightning whose 'aura' if it could be called that made his hair stand on end, lords of wind that made the air buffet those around them, masters of earth whose strength caused the very ground to shake, all of that and many more.

None of it could prepare him for what Chimera did.

He flared his strength in retaliation to Neji's scare tactics, and the world grew dark, not pitch black, just an unusual shadow that stretched from the stands, across the audience, and into the arena.

Where it passed lights, they went out, when it brushed a civilian, they went white, he felt around him and found something very strange.

He had never felt anything like this before, he had felt Orochimaru's chakra, a long time ago and he thought nothing could be more sinister, it felt, … greasy, empty, dark and horrible, but even that filled the air around him with life, as did any ninja when they called up their chakra, this did no such thing.

Instead of filling the air with life and vitality, like what would normally happen, it emptied it in a way he didn't, _couldn't _fully understand, whatever this was it took its strength from being _not_. It was the emptiness at the loss of a loved one, the silence between heart beats, the patience of the beast that will wait in silence until the stars burn cold, and all existence slides down its maw. And it was strong, Gods, it was so _strong_, he realized in horror and fear that everything he had was not enough to go up against this, not nearly enough.

Chimera emanated utter stillness, not peace for that would have been accepting, this was a horrible emptiness with a ravenous hunger to be sated and filled, and it's strength was monstrous, he had NEVER felt anything this strong, not even that one time, long ago, when he saw Orochimaru fight a village jonin, the strength and power that he felt back then was nothing compared to this, and he doubted that he would defeat Chimera really, but on the outside, he said that 'destiny had chosen him to win this match' and charged blindly forward, aiming to end the fight quickly.

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Normal POV

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His opponent tried to intimidate him with his eyes and a small amount of killing intent, combined with a flare of chakra, a nice combo that would intimidate a lot of people, but he was not among them.

Neji wanted to play mind games hmmm? Well it was only fair if he played back, so he flared his chakra, nothing more, and watched the people go white with shock, fear and weakness, it was a pathetic sight, but he prevented it from washing over the young Hyuuga, he didn't want the match to end too early after all, and he watched as common sense told the boy to forfeit and he saw the boy ignore said advice due to his pride, and his overconfidence in his bloodline and skills. Then he saw him lunge towards him, the fool.

Despite his 'opponent's' idiocy, he didn't want to kill the young Hyuuga. Given enough time, he might actually become a half-way decent challenge in thirty or forty years, that and it would be fun to shatter the boy's superiority complex in front of the entire village and leave him alive to stew in it, now THAT would be fun, and it was exactly what he planned to do to him.

He simply moved to the side as the young genius dashed passed, missing him completely. The Hyuuga immediately turned around and dashed towards him again, hoping to live through his charge. Chimera simply used the move he had shown the perverted ninja in their bet, only much faster. He rapidly solidified and shifted his chakra into an explosive and tossed right at the young ninja, who leapt back as he saw what happened. Wise move, it must be said, if he was in the vicinity when it detonated he would probably be missing a limb.

Neji was completely astounded, despite his 'all-seeing eyes' he had no idea what Chimera just did, he simply had to ask "When did you draw that explosive?"

For an answer he received only laughter. "Ha he he **ku ku ku ku ku**, draw an explosive? **I did no such thing; I do not carry any ninja equipment with** me, except for the bare essentials. Anything else I need I create with my jutsu."

Interested despite himself, Neji had to ask, "What jutsu?"

"An incredible one that allows me to create anything I need. I can create equipment, tools, even living creatures both natural and anything I can come up with in my imagination with this jutsu, for example…."

At this he took a particular stance, legs spread, bent slightly forward, arms crossed in a downward X in front of him, hands open and fingers hooked, and suddenly a green sphere of chakra formed nearby, rapidly spinning and condensing, as this happened, similar spheres formed all around him, until he had done what needed to be done.

He had created a large amount (20-30) of strange creatures; they were spherical, of a dark purple color with wings like a bat, and one large golden eye upon the sphere that hovered in place after they were formed.

"So, **what do you think of my creations Neji? I call **them 'Tracer Eyes' they are essentially living bombs, and once they lock on to a target (at this point all of the 'Tracer Eyes' swiveled in air and gazed upon Neji, who looked on in shock and fear) then **they will follow you forever."**

As soon as he said this, all of the flying bombs flew towards Neji at a rapid pace, like a bat swarm from hell. Neji, with his eyes, knew when and where they were coming, and managed to dodge out of the way of the living bombs until eventually, he was surrounded, and they charged him from all directions, leaving him no choice.

"KAITEN!" he yelled as he rapidly spun, forming a shield of chakra around him that absorbed the large explosions, then he looked towards Chimera in challenge.

Then he felt it as a large iron manacle popped out of the ground and locked upon his ankle, a chain connected to it leading underground.

Then something even stranger happened as on of Chimera's living bombs popped out of the ground, only it had two smaller eyes instead of one large one, nor did it have wings and it was 2-3 times the size of the bombs before, and it was connected to the manacle on his ankle by the chain, at that point the underground bomb detonated, sending him back 30 feet in a bloody heap, badly hurt, but he would probably live.

Chimera moved over to the still conscious Neji and looked him in the eyes, he only said one sentence " Doton: Mad Bomb no Jutsu, you ignored me and instead focused on my Tracer Eyes, **allowing me to use this jutsu and surprise you with it, you require more training Hyuuga Neji."**

He then knocked out the dazed Hyuuga with a chop to the neck while the proctor called the match "Winner of the First Match, Chimera!" Chimera walked up into the waiting area with the cheers of the crowd behind him.

He entered the waiting area above the arena, situated himself by the window, ignoring the looks of fear on the faces of all of his 'competition' and settled himself to wait until his next match, hoping the other matches until then were worth watching.

The Second match was anticipated even more than the first, the battle between Konoha's 'greatest gennin' Uchiha Sas-gay, I mean Sasuke, and Suna's greatest, Sabaku no Gaara, there was a lot of talk and a bit of disappointment when the closet homosexual clan 'survivor' didn't show up.

The Hokage what with the arena sized mob and the council bugging him, was left no choice but to postpone the match between the two and put it last on the roster.

As such, they moved on to the next match, Sabaku no Kankuro vs. Aburame Shino, which ended in great disappointment as Kankuro forfeited for some reason before the match even began, which ended in Shino's advancement to the next round where he would face whoever won the fourth match between Sabaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru, who automatically won the fifth match due to the late Kinuta Dosu, who accidentally committing suicide via pissed off Jinchuuriki.

That match was destined to be a dud too, with Shikamaru refusing to go down to the stage opting to quit instead. That was until Chimera, having enough of this, leaned over to the lazy Nara and whispered in his ear "You have a choice Nara-san, **get down there and fight the girl, or fight me when this is all over, and** we both know who would win that match."

Shikamaru arguably set a record for the 100M dash when he heard that, such ass he hauled, but it was never confirmed as the distance and time were in question, such a shame, I hear they give out nice medals to people who do stuff like that.

Sadly that match didn't satisfy the crowd much, as it was more of a battle of wits than brute strength and flashy jutsu. Temari eventually won due to her opponent giving up after a near miss with chakra exhaustion, more like his laziness, but what's the point?

Alas by the end of the forth match, it was time for the King o' Queer to make an entrance or don't bother showing up. Due to the damn council breathing down his neck, the Hokage gave the last Uchiha ten minutes to show up.

They showed up, both of them in a flashy as hell shunshin, five seconds before Sasuke would have been disqualified, both looking strangely… satisfied-looking. And the bigoted fuck had the nerve to say "Sorry I got lost on the road of life." and then ask if they were late! After a terse answer from Genma, which was basically a polite way to say 'Just barely, now get the fuck out.' Kakashi disappeared with another shunshin, to read God knows how much yaoi.

Then the 'oh so looked forward to' Second Match got underway, it was interesting at first in a copying piece of shit kind of way, then Gaara put up an insanely hard ball of sand around himself, preparing to go all out.

When this happened however, Sasuke immediately ran up the nearest Arena wall, with a bit of a wobble, Chimera noticed, as though sore from something, shaking such disturbing and probably true thoughts aside he watched as the Uchiha charged up and then used Kakashi's Chidori on Gaara, piercing his shield and making the Jinchuuriki bleed for the first time.

After that, the whole fucking WORLD went to the dogs.

The Yondaime Kazekage had apparently been killed and replaced by Orochimaru who used his disguise to get close to the Hokage, he then proceeded to kidnap the old man and take him up to the roof where the Sound-Four then put up an insanely strong barrier to prevent anyone from interrupting the fight between the two.

At the same time, someone put a sleeping Genjutsu over the arena, putting all of the civilians to sleep, and most of the gennin present, the exceptions being Team 7, the Suna Team, Shino and Shikamaru.

When that happened, a large amount of Suna and Oto Shinobi stormed the village along with a large 3-headed summoned snake. The shinobi were dealt with by the border patrol of the village, while the snake wreaked havoc until Jiraiya showed up to combat it with one of his own summons.

Gaara having dispelled his sand shield, was saved by Kankuro, Temari, and their sensei Baki, Baki ordered the pair to get Gaara out of there, but were stopped by Genma, Baki engaged Genma as the Sand trio made off into the woods to recover, Sasuke chasing them.

Kakashi and Gai were dealing with a large number of Chuunin level Oto Shinobi, when Kakashi saw Sasuke go after Gaara, he immediately moved over to Sakura, told her to get a team together, and go after them and stop Sasuke from going after Gaara.

"But, but who should I bring sensei?" asked the useless Sakura, having no idea what was going on and was on the verge of panic.

"Whoever you can get, just go and get Sasuke, you'll be safe once you get to him!" said the Jounin after he defeated another Oto Nin.

Chimera of all people then appeared and said "I will be happy to go after Sasuke, **Shikamaru, get up, you're coming too!"** the moment that was said, Shikamaru was up, fast as lightning, having been pretending to be under the influence of the genjutsu during this time.

"Here, take one of my summons, he'll be able to track Sasuke by scent. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" a puff of smoke and a small dog by the name of Pakkun appeared.

"Pakkun, I need you to lead these three to Sasuke, and bring him back here."

"No problem Kakashi."

Gai then appeared, punching an Oto ninja straight through the wall, leaving a large hole. "Here, you can use this shortcut. Come on Kakashi, we have civilians to protect!" He then jumped off back into the fray, Kakashi right behind him, as the impromptu team of 4 left via punched hole in the wall.

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Progress was slow in the forest as the quickly gathered team chased after the gay Uchiha, one a lazy genius who didn't want to be there, another a dog forced into service, the third a pink-haired fangirl who found stamina in the thought of chasing after her 'Sasuke-kun' and the fourth a person hoping to sabotage the mission and get said gay Uchiha killed.

After a while the dog, Pakkun said that he smelled someone following them, 7-8 ninja of either Chuunin or Jounin level strength.

When he heard that, Chimera had a field-day; at last he could get away from the weak wannabe ninja. He stopped on the branch he was on, turned around and said "You guys heard him**, you three go on ahead, I will deal with our pursuers, I doubt** that it will take very long to defeat them."

"What are you talking about you idiot, you think you can defeat 8 jounin level ninja?! Maybe Sasuke-kun could, but a weakling like you never could!" yelled the pink-haired fangirl, no prizes for guessing her name.

"Sakura, do your feet feel wet? Can **you see the pyramids?"**

"What the hell are you talking about you freak!?"

"Earth to Sakura-baka**, you are knee deep in de Nile, NOW GET THE FUCK GOING!!"** after hearing THAT tone, the other three got out of there as fast as they damn could, as Chimera turned to the direction the enemy ninja would attack from.

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At the same time, Sasuke was chasing after Gaara, when he was intercepted by Temari, she was tough, but he beat her in her tired condition, thanks to his private training.

Before long he caught up to Kankuro, only to have Temari appear again. Temari wanted to go for round two, but Kankuro gave her Gaara and turned to fight, Sasuke prepared for a stronger foe, but Shino came and took over the fight, and Sasuke was able to continue on after his wounded opponent, and his sister.

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Chimera was going as fast as he could after Gaara, bypassing his 'team', they would just slow him down. The 8 ninja didn't last nearly as long as he thought they would.

_Flashback:_

_Chimera stood waiting for the eight ninja to appear, as soon as they saw him, they leapt at him in one straight horizontal line, fools. A horizontal slashing movement of his hand, and they were sliced in half by his invisible blade. Then he counted the bodies, there were Seven, but Pakkun said they were Eight._

_As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a kunai came out of the trees behind the fallen ninja and struck him in the throat, right where a normal human's jugular would be, but to him it was not even close to a fatal wound._

_He shunshined behind the enemy ninja, grasped the kunai and pulled it from his neck, and the wound rapidly shrank, until he was perfectly well, the Oto ninja was shocked as his throat was cut by his own kunai. He then dropped the weapon and proceeded farther into the forest._

_End flashback_

He continued on until he came to the scene of the fight between Shino and Kankuro, it was a fairly interesting battle in his opinion, full of deceit, but eventually Shino became the victor by flooding Kankuro's puppet, Karasu, with bugs until it's joints were useless, then he set the insects upon the helpless Kankuro himself. After Shino defeated the young puppet-master, he collapsed from poison he had inhaled during the battle, Chimera moved on going after his target.

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Sasuke had reached Gaara only for him to turn himself into some _thing_ that looked half like Gaara, but the rest was some kind of monster, it was a very light brown, and his left arm was giving him a lot of trouble, blocking everything but his Chidori, and after he used that, he HEALED it and grew a TAIL! So now his two Chidoris for the day had been used up, and he was up against Gaara with TWO of the strange limbs.

Then to make matters worse, Sakura showed up with one of Kakashi's ninja dogs** (1)**, who dispersed as soon as he saw Gaara. Then instead of doing something useful, she got out of the way and started _cheering_ of all things.

"Come on Sasuke-kun you can beat him!" yelled the weak excuse of a ninja as Sasuke continued to fight for his life. Then of all the things to happen, Gaara's sand thing grew to cover his entire face and torso, until only his legs were still normal.

A rather severe beating later and Gaara then imprisoned Sakura in his sand, saying that it will crush slowly her, unless he is defeated! Sasuke tried a third Chidori, despite his sensei's good advice against it, and felt pain as he used it, until he charged at Gaara, Juin flaring and covering him in marks like flame, purple chakra surrounding him.

That didn't work as Gaara dodged, surprisingly quick and agile, despite his large size, his Chidori hit the tree instead, and wasting a lot of chakra forcing his Juin back into its inactive state. Gaara then sent a large amount of sand, preparing to finish the battle, until once more the unexpected happened, CHIMERA showed out of nowhere and blew the sand back with nothing more than a flick of his wrist. Suddenly Gaara felt fear

"Hello **Sabaku no Gaara, are you ready to fight someone** more on your own level rather than some weakling now?" asked the masked ninja, mockery and condescension in his tone as he put his hands to his sides, as Sasuke looked on in awe. He really wanted to let him die, but he just had to see that look on his face as he realized his own weakness.

"At last the one I have wanted to fight! MOTHER WILL HAVE YOUR BLOOD!!" and as soon as he yelled that he let Shukaku, the Ichibi no Tanuki, make a physical manifestation of itself and take over his mind as he went asleep immediately after the body was formed. That left Chimera vs. the Ichibi for all intents and purposes.

"Sasuke, leave **you are in the way where you are, stand back, and** see how a real ninja fights." As he said that he leapt towards the ground and dashed with amazing speed towards the great beast's leg, and climbing it using his chakra at an incredibly rapid pace, dodging sand projectiles and ramparts that came from the limb all the while.

Thanks to his amazing speed, before long he reached the red-headed fellow psychopath and proceed to hit him so hard that he flew out of the Bijuu's head completely, waking him up and sealing Shukaku at the same time, he leapt into the trees and continued on his way down at a leisurely pace, as Gaara fell and hit the earth with a loud impact, leaving a small crater, he was alive and more importantly awake, but badly injured. Chimera approached the Jinchuuriki as Gaara yelled in pain and fear, until Temari and Kankuro appeared before him, to try and stop him from further hurting their brother.

He only said in single word, in both tones at once, creeping out the two more than they were before "**G**o" And they went, as fast as they possibly could.

When Chimera returned, he found Sasuke dragging Sakura out of Gaara's death trap of sand, disgust on his face as he touched her, keeping contact to a minimum. With that, Sasuke carried Sakura, as Chimera DRAGGED Shikamaru, who they had found in the forest on the way back, and returned to the village, much to Kakashi's delight. After all who cares if Sakura or Shikamaru were hurt, right?

It was a while before every bit of damage was surveyed, but Chimera got a basic damage report, several buildings crushed, many damaged, 25 civilians killed, 30 Shinobi of mostly Chuunin rank were killed in the attack, one foolish ANBU who had leapt right into Orochimaru's barrier and had gotten incinerated, and the Sandaime Hokage, murdered by Orochimaru.

Chimera didn't care about most of those, but when he heard of the Sandaime's death he had two thoughts and two thoughts only.

'My remaining days in Konoha are numbered' and

'I am going to kill Orochimaru, as soon as the time is right and I am going to make it PAINFUL!'

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(1) Shikamaru tripped and sprained his ankle in the forest

And that's that, what did you guys think? A bit rushed I know, but I want to get to the Sasuke retrieval arc as soon as I can.

Read, Review (NOW!), tell your friends (when applicable), and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	9. Chapter 9

Yo, this is the same stuff I wrote in the beginning of Chapter 8, if you want witty starting dialogue, look there, then cut an

Yo, this is the same stuff I wrote in the beginning of Chapter 8, if you want witty starting dialogue, look there, then cut and paste it to here.

By the way, someone said that I overdid it on the Sasgay thing in the last chapter, just so you know; I did that because I knew that I wouldn't get much of a chance in this chapter, so I tried to get in two chapters of bashing on him at once, just so you know.

Oh, and enjoy Ch.9 of Naruto the Chimera

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Last time

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As the 4 returned to Konoha Chimera found out that the invasion had been stopped, and he managed to get a damage report, some damaged and destroyed buildings, a few dead civilians and ninja, but he only cared about the last bit, that the Sandaime was dead, murdered by Orochimaru, as soon as he heard that he had two thoughts:

'My days in Konoha are numbered; it's almost time to leave.' And

'Orochimaru, when the time is right I will kill you, PAINFULLY!'

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It was a few days after the Sandaime's funeral and as far as Chimera was concerned, ever since the invasion, things had been boring as hell. Sure he was sad because the old man died, but he wasn't going to let that change him, he knew it would happen eventually. It happened a lot earlier than he thought, but he still knew it was going to happen regardless. He wondered, vaguely, who would be made the Godaime.

'Probably some puppet of the council more likely than not, and that means that Konoha will be a lot less pleasant in coming years, those old fools will murder this village with their arrogance and greed. Not that it's my problem, I am leaving this village as soon as it suits me or the village pisses me off, so within two weeks, probably.' Were his thoughts as he sat upon the Hokage monument, looking at the damaged village with a bit of mirth in his eyes. He had always wondered what the village would look like in flames and ruins, now that he found out first hand, he realized that the look really suited the place.

He then realized that he was not alone as his 'apprentice' Jiraiya shunshined onto the monument nearby him.

"Yes Jiraiya, **what is it?"**

"They have chosen the Godaime Hokage, Chimera-Sensei."

"Really now, tell me which** of the Council's pawns is it going to be? Kakashi or one of the politicians?" **

"Neither, thank Kami-Sama, the shock of the invasion made them look past their greed long enough to make a rare good decision, the Godaime Hokage is to be Tsunade, since I turned down the job, and I am supposed to track her down. I was wondering if you would like to come with me sensei."

"Hmm, fair enough, I have** been bored out of my flaming skull since the invasion ended, **I could use the exercise. You do realize that she will **most likely refuse the job, I trust. And for **good reason, that job is practically worse than life in prison.** We shall **have to convince her, and that will be difficult."

"I doubt that sensei, she may be hard-headed at times, but she will come through when we need her." Jiraiya said with confidence.

"My poor deluded** Jiraiya-Chan, this is why ****I**** am the sensei**, not YOU, because you still do not understand basic human nature, which is one of the major things I have been trying to** teach you, my apprentice."**

"Hai, Sensei. So, will you come with me?"

"I already said yes, just** keep your 'research' to a minimum; we will **find her faster, meet me at the North Gate in one hour."

"HAI, SENSEI!" then Jiraiya shunshined away to prepare for the journey.

'Hmmm, so the third Sannin shall become Hokage eh? One of the 14 too, since the Yondaime Kazekage is dead, and Orochimaru lost his arms, a full eighth of the people who could challenge me are gone, well at least I get to meet another one of them in person. I wonder what Tsunade will be like.' He thought as he gazed upon the wrecked portion of the village, wondering just wondering how good it would look like if the entire village was in ruins instead of just that one single section, and thinking that the image in his head at that moment looked like paradise.

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They had been walking towards the nearest town to Konoha for two days by the time they finally got there with Jiraiya's research, and Chimera working on his new jutsus. It was a pretty big town that happened to be having a festival at the moment. 'Perfect' was the only thought in Chimera's mind, as he knew just how to find Tsunade, wherever she might be.

"Okay, Sensei, we'll split up and look for information on Tsunade, this is what she looks like in case she's actually in town. If you see her, find me." Said the lord of the perverts as he showed his 'sensei' a picture of what Tsunade looked like at the moment.

"Right, right, **Jiraiya, trust me, I will find where she is, you **can count on it." Said Chimera, eager to get started, but for that he needed the Toad Sage to leave.

"Okay then, see you later Sensei." Said the Toad Sage/God of Perverts before he shunshined off to the nearest brothel, probably.

Chimera jumped onto a nearby roof, looking down upon the massive throngs of people below him, as he thought 'Okay, now who looks like nobody would miss him?' As he silently looked for a victim.

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Konoha

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The day after Chimera and Jiraiya left on their quest to locate Tsunade, a strange pair made their way silently through Konoha's massive gates, they both wore straw hats with strips of cloth covering their features, and they both wore black cloaks with red clouds upon them. If you looked at their fingers, one had a ring with the kanji for Suzaku upon it on his right ring finger; the other had a ring with the Kanji for 'South Star' upon it on his left ring finger. This second figure also had a long object bound in bandages strapped to his back with a thick belt. Though no one knew this at the time, they were Uchiha Itachi, murderer of the Uchiha Clan, and Hoshigaki Kisame, strongest member of the Shinobigatana Nananin Shu, the seven swordsmen of the mist. Both were members of Akatsuki and S-Class Missing-Nin from their respective villages.

They were just minding their own business really, investigating this 'Chimera' person, who their spies have said to be Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and drinking herbal tea when they were assaulted by two local jounin, Yuuhi Kurenai, and Sarutobi Asuma, son of the late Sandaime.

The battle was going quite well, at least until Hatake Kakashi also joined the battle, thus saving the lives of the previously mentioned Jonin. At that point, Itachi recommended a tactical retreat before the ANBU could show up and be a pain in the ass for them. He did this AFTER nailing Kakashi with his Tsukuyomi, of course. Itachi never really liked Kakashi when he was in the village. At that point they left the village, going after their target and the Toad 'Sage' with him.

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Random as Hell town where we left off before

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Chimera was having fun, after finding his victim he quickly kidnapped him and took him into the woods. He was some random drunkard that seemed to pop out of the woodwork during festivals like these. By the time Chimera was done with the unfortunate bastard, his nose, eyelids, lips, and ears were removed from his head, there were 30-40 stab wounds in his chest, and if you looked at his abdomen, there was a large, deep, X-Shaped cut across it, and he had been opened up like a Chinese take-out box. If you looked inside, you would have found most of his organs were missing, these were strewn across the clearing. The poor bastard had been killed horribly, but he knew where to find Tsunade and when. Now all he had to do was find Jiraiya.

'Anthropomancy, the art of divining the future, and obtaining information by reading human entrails. God it's perfect, fun AND highly useful.' Thought Chimera as he located the pervert, and told him that they would find Tsunade in Tanzaku Gai, in three days.

"How do you know that, Sensei?" asked the stupefied Jiraiya, shocked that he had found Tsunade so quickly.

He got only one sentence for a response, "Ask me no questions, **and I shall tell you no lies, Jiraiya, let's get going."** Getting a nod from Jiraiya, they then left to the next town, with Tanzaku Gai a few miles beyond it.

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One day later, random ass town #2, random hotel room

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Chimera was working on a pair of new jutsus at the same time, and it was difficult. This would be the eleventh and twelfth Rasengan based jutsu he had made, and it would be FAR more powerful than the first ten, as well as the original. He was fully occupied by this complicated bit of elemental manipulation, until he heard a pleasant knock upon his door.

'Jiraiya is probably back from getting dumped by that girl he was looking at.' he thought as he went over and opened the door, and saw two Akatsuki members looking back at him. The first thing out of his mouth was "Come in, I just made tea." Kisame shot Itachi a bewildered look, and then seeing Itachi enter the hotel room, followed him in.

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Jiraiya POV

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'Dammit, dammit, dammit' thought the author of orange smut as he rushed back to the hotel. After realizing that the girl he was after was put under a genjutsu, he worked out what was happening almost immediately, and realized that his 'sensei' was in danger.

When he finally got there, he noticed that there was no sign of a struggle; he hoped that he might not have been too late, and then he opened the door to see something quite disturbing.

There was his sensei, Chimera, but he was not alone, there were two other people in the room with him, S-Class criminals Uchiha Itachi, and Hoshigaki Kisame. He was immediately worried and was prepared to jump into action, until he noticed what they were doing. They were sitting around a table, drinking green tea, and talking like they were old friends or something!

Jiraiya was stunned "U-umm, Chimera-Sensei, why are you talking with criminals who want your life?"

At that point all three of them noticed him for the first time, and Chimera was the first to speak "Ahh, Jiraiya's back**, we will have to cut this short, do you two agree to my terms?"** Itachi was the one to reply "We shall tell your ideas to Leader-Sama, Chimera-kun, he would be the one to make the decision, we will contact you when he makes his decision. Until then, Chimera-kun, Jiraiya-san." Then the Akatsuki pair turned to leave the apartment. Then as soon as they were in the hall, they heard a loud shout "ITACHI!!" then they heard the familiar sound of a Chidori, and then and enormous hole was blown in their wall by the deflected lightning jutsu.

They looked outside, and saw the very entertaining sight of Uchiha Itachi, beating the living shit out of his younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke, much to Chimera's delight.

Itachi proceeded to beat the hell out of Sasuke, until he got bored, at that point he nailed his brother with the same illusion he put Kakashi under, the dreaded Tsukuyomi, which drove Sasuke unconscious due to the massive mental stress and pain caused by the technique.

The elder brother then turned to his host from a few minutes ago, said "Sorry for damaging your wall, Chimera-kun." Then proceeded to Shunshin away, Kisame behind him.

A few minutes later, Gai appeared with his 'Konoha Senpuu' giving Jiraiya a bloody nose and then after many apologies, proceeded to pick up the spoiled and comatose Uchiha, and then proceed to carry him back to Konoha on his back.

After that, Jiraiya finally managed to ask "Chimera-Sensei, why were you talking with two S-Class criminals, especially when one of them from out village?"

"Would it be enough to say, Jiraiya,** that I saw an opportunity for negotiation, not combat? I am not positive that I could have beaten them, at least not both at once,** so I decided to talk to them instead. Now let's go, tomorrow we find Tsunade." Chimera then left the hotel and start out on the path to Tanzaku Gai, with Jiraiya right behind him.

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Tanzaku Gai, the time and place Chimera specified

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When they had gotten into town Chimera walked through the streets like he knew them and before long, they had found a bar, which Chimera entered, with Jiraiya behind him; it looked like an everyday bar, nothing special about it. But much to Jiraiya's shock, when they walked in, he found none other than the person that he and his sensei had been looking for since they left Konoha, Tsunade, the appointed Godaime Hokage.

Of course, Tsunade noticed them too, and the first thing she did was yell "JIRAIYA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Before long, the two had sat down across from the blonde Sannin, and legendary medical ninja Tsunade, and her young apprentice, Shizune.

The first thing Tsunade said, after they had sat down, was "So, this is your apprentice, Jiraiya? He doesn't look like much." After taking one look at Chimera.

At that point, Jiraiya did the only thing he could, he laughed his ass off. "Ha, ah ha ha ah, ha ha ha ha, y-y-you think that he's MY apprentice? Ha ha ha, THAT'S RICH, HA ha ha ha pant pant, ahhh, that was funny." Tsunade by this time was royally pissed, and asked, if he's not your apprentice then who the hell is he?!"

At that point Chimera spoke for the first time "I am not Jiraiya's apprentice, **HE is MY apprentice."** Tsunade and Shizune were shocked.

"W-what the hell, how are you his apprentice, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked the still recovering Sannin.

"It's true Tsunade, Chimera-Sensei is in fact my mentor and teacher, and I am his apprentice, he's better than I am in a lot of things."

Tsunade, recovering from her shock, asked "So, why are you guys here?" Jiraiya told the truth, and gave her the real reason, "Sarutobi-Sensei is dead, and the Council wants you to be the Godaime."

Tsunade immediately said the only thought that could come to mind in such a situation, "NO WAY IN HELL!" Jiraiya immediately stammered out "Come on, Tsunade, Orochimaru and his village attacked Konoha, their in dire straights, we need a Godaime and soon, and you are the only person for the job."

"No way Jiraiya, I will not take that suicide job. I may be a horrible gambler, but I will NOT put my life on the line for Konoha! Only a fool becomes Hokage, without exception, and anyone who DOES always ends up dead for stupid reasons. I won't put my life on the line for nothing like those four fools! Only an absolute idiot would become Hokage!"

At that point she had done something that very few people to date have EVER done, and that is get Chimera pissed off. He slammed his hand on the table and yelled while giving off a massive amount of killing intent "ENOUGH! You are right about Konoha, you may be right about the Hokage being a suicide job, but I **WILL NOT ALLOW ANYONE TO INSULT SARUTOBI IN MY PRESENCE!"**

"OH YEAH, PUNK, HOW ABOUT WE TAKE THIS OUTSIDE?" asked Tsunade, without a bit of fear in her voice, despite the UNREAL amount of killing intent being displayed by the masked ninja.

"**After you, Tsunade."** Said a VERY pissed off Chimera, rising from his seat with Tsunade right behind him.

Before long the entire group was outside in the alley outside of the bar, Tsunade and Chimera facing each other from 20 feet away, Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tonton looking on from the sidelines.

Tsunade, doubting her opponent's strength boasted that she could defeat him using only the index finger on her right had. "It would not be wise to handicap yourself against me Tsunade;** you would definitely regret it later."** "I'm handicapping myself so I don't accidentally hurt you kid, so shut up and attack me if you aren't scared!" Tsunade yelled back at him.

While this conversation was happening between Tsunade and Chimera, another conversation was occurring between Jiraiya and Shizune; he whispered to her "We need to be ready to stop the fight at any moment."

She nodded and replied "Right, don't worry, I'll be ready to stop Tsunade if she goes too far." Jiraiya then looked at Shizune incredulously and replied "Its Chimera-Sensei that we need to worry about in terms of going too far." Much to Shizune's shock.

Tsunade lunged towards Chimera, index finger headed towards the middle his chest, Chimera merely stood by and let the attack hit him in a normally fatal area, right above the heart, Tsunade was shocked, as was her apprentice, Jiraiya however knew enough to never think that his Sensei was out of the game, unless you had his head on a pike and even then to watch your back.

Jiraiya turned out to be correct, to Tsunade's misfortune, as Chimera raised his right hand, and forming an everyday Rasengan, albeit a weak one, and smashing it into her stomach, sending her flying back, until she hit a wall, making a sizable crater, and stunning her, almost knocking her out as she dropped to the ground. Chimera was on her in a flash, picking her up by the neck and smashing her against the wall again, Tsunade and Shizune were aghast, neither of them had EVER seen someone move that fast, except for the Yondaime Hokage, but if you didn't count the Hiraishin no Jutsu then he was the fastest person they had ever seen.

The battle was over, Tsunade knew that, she had gotten cocky and her opponent mopped the floor with her because of it, but before she lost consciousness Chimera looked her right in the eye, and said one thing before knocking her out with a chop to the neck. "Never underestimate an opponent, Tsunade, and NEVER insult Sarutobi in my presence again, or you **will not walk away from the battle, Godaime or not**."

At that moment, Shizune realized that this 'Chimera' person was not one to take lightly, and in her mind, Tsunade realized that too. Still, they brought the unconscious Slug Sannin to her Hotel room. Where the four then stayed the night, and waited for Tsunade to wake up in the morning.

When she finally did, she was pissed, her wounds were fully healed by that time by Shizune, and the first thing she did was run into the living room, and saw none other than Chimera, eating breakfast, before he goes to train on developing his perfect Rasengan, he had created eleven variants of it thus far, Katon: Rasengan, Suiton: Rasengan, Raiton: Rasengan, Fuuton: Rasengan, Doton: Rasengan, Rasengan Dangan, Katon: Rasenshuriken, Suiton: Rasenshuriken, Raiton: Rasenshuriken, Fuuton: Rasenshuriken, and Doton: Rasenshuriken.

The first five were the normal Rasengan with a bit of elemental chakra imbued in them, making them more powerful, and having a bit of an advantage over the element that it was strong against, and a weakness to the element it was weak against. They were A-Class Ninjutsu. The Rasenshurikens were extremely powerful Rasengans that were extremely deadly, they not only damaged the hit target, but demolished the surrounding impact area with its element, it could also demolish any elemental jutsu it goes against if it was of the element that the Rasenshuriken was strong against. Normally, you would need to have an elemental affinity towards the element in order to make elemental chakra of that type, but thanks to Kyuubi, he didn't have to worry about that. It was one of Kyuubi's three gifts to him when they first met.

The first was the ability to devour the abilities of the souls of Hell, and obtain what techniques they had when they were alive, the second was giving him an affinity for all five elements, as if he had the Rinnegan, it was the same effect and extremely useful. The third was his trump card, he would only use THAT if he either needed to stall for time until something was completed, or couldn't win through his massive skills. Only your mind would let you survive what he obtained with Kyuubi's third gift. **(1)**

The Rasengan Dangan (Spiral Bullet) was a long-range Rasengan. A normal Rasengan that he could launch at his opponent at incredible speeds that would drill through the target. It too was an S-Class Ninjutsu.** (2) **But what he had in mind for creating would put all of those to shame. The original Rasengan was next to useless, but it had endless potential for modification, in his opinion. However before he could continue his thoughts, he was interrupted by an angry Tsunade.

"YOU BASTARD I WANT A RE-MATCH!" Irked at being disrupted from his thoughts, he finished his tea and responded with a quick "Not now Tsunade, **maybe another time, I have a jutsu to develop, maybe** afterwards, okay?" Then he Shunshined off to the outskirts of town, which would make a very nice training ground in his opinion, to create his perfect Rasengan. Leaving a seething Tsunade behind.

Chimera arrived at the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai, in a large field. He looked over the potential training ground, and after giving it his personal okay, he put his hands into a cross seal and yelled out "Dia Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Great multi-shadow clone jutsu **(3)**) and created a grand total of 5,000 clones. He looked over them all, and told them to get to work on his idea for a new jutsu, a perfect Rasengan.

It followed this typical pattern for several days, Jiraiya going off to perform his research, while Tsunade yelled at Chimera for a rematch as he left to train on perfecting his perfect Rasengan, pissing off Tsunade at the same time, leaving Shizune to keep her mistress calm and keep her from blowing all of their money on booze and gambling, until Jiraiya got back, with a few bumps and slap marks more often than not, and tried to convince Tsunade to take the position of Godaime Hokage, with little to no success. It should be noted, however, that she never insulted the Sandaime since she met Chimera however. In her mind, the boy was right; she owed the man too much to insult him like that. That and, despite her great experience and strength, there was something about that boy that made her believe that he could and WOULD carry out his threat. She could definitely get a fight out of him by insulting her sensei, but she wanted a friendly spar out of him, not a fight to the death, which is what she would be getting if she insulted the Sandaime in his presence.

That and she was also making a difficult choice, between getting back Dan and Nawaki, or saving the village her grandfather created which is what would happen if she healed Orochimaru's arms like he wanted her to. She hoped, for Orochimaru's sake, that he never met that Chimera guy. If she threatened her with death for insulting the Sandaime, what would he do to the old man's murderer? Something told her not to think about, she really didn't want to know. But she was still struggling with her choice, tomorrow was Orochimaru's deadline after all.

When she finally chose, Jiraiya, invited her out for a drink, which, in her situation, she all too happily accepted. Before long, the deed was done, and she hit Jiraiya with a potent drug that would keep him out of the game. Something told her that her drugs wouldn't work on Chimera however, and it didn't make much of a difference anyway, she would never be able to get close enough to him to do it anyway. When it came to tomorrow, she would just have to hope that he didn't attack her, she would need to be undistracted to do what she had planned.

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Tanzaku Gai, the day of the deadline

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Chimera woke with a start, he was rather tired the night before, since he finally perfected his jutsu and he was VERY proud of the results, it was without a doubt a perfect Rasengan.

Then Shizune, Tsunade's assistant, ran in and asked her if he had seen the old bag, and Hokage to be. Answering to the negative, the two left, before they got far from the Hotel, however, they ran into the drugged Jiraiya, and said that Tsunade drugged him. At that point, Shizune told the pair everything, about Orochimaru wanting Tsunade to heal his arms and what he offered in return for such treatment. At that moment, Chimera put the pieces together and was more pissed off than anyone had ever seen him. He asked Shizune, in a tight, clipped voice, to bring them to where Tsunade was to meet with Orochimaru, and fearing for her life at the time, she agreed and brought them to the alley where they had met Orochimaru a few hours before Jiraiya and Chimera showed up.

When they got there, the area was in ruins, and Tsunade's jacket was on the floor, in tatters, and there was an enormous hole in the wall, and if one looked beyond that hole, you would see that there was a large trail of such holes, leading off into the distance. Chimera realized that she must have turned on Orochimaru, and set off following the trail of craters, Shizune, and Jiraiya, following them.

A few miles outside of the town, they found Orochimaru, his arms useless, watching a fight between Tsunade and Kabuto, who was wearing an Oto headband, Chimera suddenly realized what he thought was off before, during the exams, he smelled of snakes, so did his team. He realized that Kabuto must have been a spy and was partly behind the Sandaime's murder, his list of people who had officially pissed him off went up by one, and he intended to make at least one of them pay right here.

Before his eyes, Kabuto cut his hand and sprayed Tsunade with blood which stopped her in her tracks, just for a few seconds, but that was more than long enough for Kabuto to land a powerful strike and send her back towards the group, only to be caught by Shizune, and carried off to have her wounds tended to.

Chimera immediately took charge of the situation, Shizune was already doing what he wanted her to do, which was heal Tsunade's wounds, he then told Jiraiya to take care of Orochimaru. He nodded and jumped towards the twisted Sannin, as Chimera turned toward Kabuto. He wanted to kill Orochimaru himself of course, but not here, he needed to kill Orochimaru AFTER he left the village, not before, his plans demanded it, but just because he couldn't kill the person he hated most, doesn't mean that he couldn't go after his close third. Kakashi was second in that regard, but he couldn't kill him until he left the village, which, knowing Konoha would be within a month.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru, handicapped as they both were made a good match for each other. As the two titans of the third ninja war clashed, one's superior, and the other's subordinate clashed.

Kabuto attempted to take him out using the same chakra scalpel he used on Tsunade, attempting to defeat him quickly, that charge was soon stopped cold however, as he was blown back by Chimera with a sweep of his arm. He then stretched his hand out in front of him and a Rasengan formed there, a normal one. Kabuto prepared himself for a quick charge when he saw the technique, but he didn't expect it to come flying towards him at the speed of sound, surprised Kabuto was hit in the stomach and it went right through him. Kabuto survived however, and immediately started healing himself, he would be healed within a few minutes, and that was all the time Chimera needed to form his new jutsu. Since he was number three on his 'People to painfully kill list', second to Kakashi and third to Orochimaru, Chimera figured that the white haired spy was worthy to be the first living target of his perfect Rasengan.

It started as a normal Rasengan in his hand, and then it started to turn red as fire chakra was fed into it, before it consumed the sphere however it was joined by a deep rich ocean-blue, the two mixed together as they were joined by a golden yellow as lightning chakra joined the fire and water chakra, before long the three were joined by chakra of a rich forest green as wind was mixed in, finally a deep brown of pure earth joined the first four. The five colors mixed in a hypnotic dance and a five- bladed shuriken formed around the hypnotic sphere, one of the blades of burning flame, another of flowing water, a third of piercing lightning, the fourth of slicing wind, and the fifth of solid, oppressive earth.

He charged at Kabuto who looked in shock as the masked boy came at him with the most beautiful and terrifying thing he had ever seen in his hand. You could feel the power inside of that vibrant sphere and the five blades shocking you to the bone, he only had one thought and that was 'why me?' as the hypnotic sphere hit him.

The effect was as beautiful as the sphere itself, and everyone, the combating Sannin, the wounded Tsunade and the worried Shizune looked on in shock and awe.

The sphere exploded in a massive blast of the five elements that left an enormous crater so large, that if you filled it with water Gamabunta could use it as a bathtub. The surrounding area was burned by flame, eroded by water, pierced by lightning, sliced by wind, and crushed by earth at the same time. When it was all over, there stood Chimera, unharmed, just in front of the massive crater, his right hand stretched in front of him as he yelled "Gogyou **Rasenshuriken**" (five-elements spiraling shuriken) There was absolutely _nothing _of Kabuto left. He had been completely disintegrated by the furious clash of the five elements, of the fundamental forces of this world.

He then turned towards the fighting Sannin and said to Orochimaru, flaring his killing intent all the while "Leave, before** you suffer the same fate!"** Orochimaru ran off as fast as he could.

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The next day

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The next day Chimera asked Tsunade "Do you **still want that rematch?"** Tsunade immediately declined, saying she wanted to live, and then told the assembled group that she had made her choice and would become the Godaime Hokage.

Within a few hours, the four had set off back towards Konoha.

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(1) This will be something else stolen from one of the animes I have already disclaimed, I won't tell which one. You guys won't be seeing it for a while

(2) This is something I came up with; on the off chance that anyone else has thought of this before me, it's a coincidence.

(3) Another original jutsu of mine

So, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, what did you guys think of the 'Gogyou Rasenshuriken'? It's been an idea stuck in my head for a while now.

Read, Review, and Enjoy

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	10. Chapter 10

Greetings my fans

Greetings my fans! I was bored and I kind of looked forward to this chapter, so as a result, I started writing this a few hours after I posted the last chapter. Aren't I devoted? You guys should appreciate me, most writers wouldn't be this considerate.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I'm writing one for the first time in a while. I don't own Naruto, Misashi Kishi-gay-moto does, REGARDLESS of how bad he screws it up. If that mattered, he would have had his hands cut off a LONG time ago. Nor do I own anything else I use in this fic, all disclaimers for anything that's not Naruto are at the place where the concepts from that book/anime were first taken, so go search through the first few chapters, they're in there someplace. LAWYERS BE GONE!!

Enjoy chapter 10, which I REALLY enjoyed writing, Sasuke-Retrieval at last, one of the most epic and fucked-up-by-the-author arcs in the ENTIRE series.

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Last time

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Tsunade had made her decision and she told the four as such. She had decided to take the job of Godaime Hokage. A few hours later, the four had left Tanzaku Gai, to return to Konoha.

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After a few days of walking, and one close call with the police in the town where Chimera murdered that poor fuck in the forest, honestly, who would have guessed he had a wife and son? He sure didn't look like much at the time. Regardless, a few days of walking and one close call with the cops, and they were back in Konoha. To three of them, it was home, to the fourth, it was a tinder box that he was forcing himself not to light.

Within three hours of getting through the gates, a Council lackey was sent to bring Tsunade to them for her inauguration as the Godaime, it was a grand affair, lots of balloons, fireworks, everyone had a grand old time. Chimera even grabbed a bottle of sake and gotten a tiny bit buzzed. Not a lot mind you, but enough to make the world a little brighter for the night. Mind you he was a tad bit more homicidal than normal that morning, but he was ready to kill anyone on the best of days, so no one really noticed.

As a result of all of the paperwork no one did since the Sandaime died, Tsunade had a lot of catching up to do, that combined with the daily headaches codenamed 'council meetings' as well as the normal daily workload meant that Tsunade could only handle the most difficult and life-threatening conditioned patients. Such as that Rock Lee guy who had gotten mauled by Gaara in the Third Exam prelims. Speaking of the Exams, he had gotten promoted, him and the lazy bum, Shikamaru. They both made Chuunin. It wasn't as obvious with him, however as he had refused to wear the jacket. His style of combat required fast movement, that's why he only had a pair of pants on under his robe, nothing else, so that he wasn't weighed down by unnecessary equipment.

As for the medical patients, he heard that Lee's operation, though dangerous, turned out to be a success, and he would be able to walk without crutches in a few days. It took a lot longer for her to heal Kakashi or Sasuke. Not that Chimera was complaining he liked them comatose, much better to be around, and you didn't have to worry about your ass getting stared at by either of the two. Only if you were a guy though, if you were a girl, they didn't take an interest in you, they were lucky.

Still, today was the day that Sasuke was to be awoken, much to Chimera's displeasure, Kakashi, being a jounin, as well as an Uchiha-loving council guard-dog had been high on the priority list to get treated, so he had been healed four days after Tsunade's inauguration. He and Sakura had been trying to get her to wake Sasuke up earlier than she wanted to. They both wanted the eye candy, I guess. At the same time Chimera was offering to pay off her gambling debts if she _accidentally_ fucked it up and left him a vegetable. She told him she would think about it. Although it seemed unlikely that she would do it, he had an obligation to all straight men to give it a try.

Still today was the day the prick got woken up by the blond medic, Sakura was there to fawn over him, then again when wasn't she? He could have sworn that he had seen a sleeping bag in there. Chimera was there too, hoping to fuck with his mind when he was still recovering from his trauma.

Than he would go back to thinking up ways to possibly improve the Gogyou Rasenshuriken, he found out so far, that mixed elements like wood and ice _don't_ form when it came to the Rasengan and elements, they just wouldn't combine, they would just flow together.

He also tried to add the dangan effect to it, and boy was THAT a mistake, it was the wind and water that make it a bad idea. If he didn't have his hand on it than he couldn't keep the sphere together for very long after it left his hand. That and the blast would go in all directions, instead of focused forward like it would do normally, meaning that, given the huge blast radius, there was a very real chance of getting nailed by the backlash of the technique. After thinking it through, he decided that it was either impossible or impractical to improve it further. The laws of physics and practicality dictated that it was as good as it was going to get.

It didn't take much to heal Sasuke actually; she just coated her hand in green chakra and put it against his head. A few seconds later, Sasuke opened his eyes, much to Sakura's delight, and Chimera's irritation. As Tsunade walked past him he beamed a thought towards her, hoping against hope that she could hear it 'I hope you DROWN in debt, you drunk.'

It didn't take long after Tsunade had left for Sasuke to get his arrogant streak back, he listened vaguely as Sakura told him what had happened after Sasuke was put in a coma for almost a month due to his older brother hitting him with a Tsukuyomi, he got more than a little bit pissed when he heard that Chimera had made Chuunin, and by the end of the tale, he was seething with rage, and challenged Chimera, against the best interest of his lifespan to a fight! Chimera happily agreed, looking forward to kicking his ass again, he was still REALLY pissed off at him for killing Haku in his sleep.

Sasuke led him up to the roof, where Sakura looked on at the sidelines, useless as usual; Chimera idly wondered how long it would take for her fan- girlishness to get someone killed as the fight began.

Sasuke had improved by a lot since their first fight so long ago, he had learned a bit too, he didn't charge at him like he did last time, instead he tried to conceal himself in the blankets that were hung out on the roof to dry as he attempted to attack Chimera from behind.

Sasuke connected with his attack, making Sakura cheer, until the bunshin exploded with a soft 'poof' and a cloud of smoke, revealing to Sasuke that it was a Kage Bunshin. At that point Chimera undid the genjutsu around himself, revealing him to be a few feet behind Sasuke as he drove a fist into his spine, sending him forward at a quick speed, he finally landed at the other end of the roof, he would have fallen off if it wasn't for the guard rail.

When Sasuke got up not long after, he glared at Chimera and had the gall to try to use the Chidori on him! Chimera thought that if he wanted to play with deadly force, he should have just said so, as a Fuuton: Rasengan formed in his right hand, its wind element giving it a HUGE advantage over the lightning element of the Chidori, as well as a lovely, deep green coloration.

Chimera was getting hopeful, if the two jutsus connected, his Fuuton: Rasengan would tear through the Chidori like wet tissue paper and kill the Uchiha heir in a gruesome way, much to Chimera's delight; maybe the backlash would kill Sakura too. He was looking forward to it so much actually that he let his guard down, just for a second, and that was more than enough time for Kakashi to jump down and grab both of their arms and toss them both towards the large water towers at the side of the roof behind Sakura.

When they connected, Sasuke's Chidori pierced the metal cylinder, until he was buried in it up to his shoulder, spraying water over him as he pulled it out. Chimera had no such problems.

His Fuuton: Rasengan had blown out a large hole in the tanker, and an even larger hole out of the other side. And if one were to look at the building across the street from the large hole, you would see quite the sizable dent in the stone and metal that made up its wall. Upon seeing this, Sasuke's anger and jealousy reached even greater levels as he saw that he still wasn't stronger than his teammate. He ran off in an angry Emo slump. Chimera just vanished. Kakashi, noticing Jiraiya nearby, actually had the nerve to tell him that it was a mistake to teach Chimera that Jutsu, despite Jiraiya's rightful response about the intelligence of teaching Sasuke the Chidori, Kakashi ignored him and went after Sasuke, the self-righteous, hypocritical bastard.

Upon finding his student, he told him that he was going to be training him harder than ever before, and to keep his eyes on killing Itachi and Chimera, telling him that he had thought of a few jutsus that might work against one, the other, or both of them. While he did this, he put up a genjutsu around them so that anyone listening would think that he was telling Sasuke to give up on revenge.

Not long afterwards, Sasuke was approached by the Sound four, Orochimaru's personal bodyguards, immediately after Kakashi's talk; they then beat him effortlessly with their Juins activated. They told him about the powers the Juin gave them and its flaws and told him that if he wanted power than he should join Orochimaru in Oto, they then gave him a place and time if he was interested. Then they left. Within ten minutes of them leaving, Sasuke had made his choice, his choice to abandon Konoha, and join Orochimaru in Otogakure no Sato, for power.

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It was the next morning when Chimera had gotten the news from his fellow 'Chuunin' Shikamaru. The news that Sasuke had left the village with four Oto ninja, after harming his fellow Konoha 'ninja' Sakura. There was to be a team of four to go after him, it would be the four of them going after four elite ninja to bring Sasuke back.

But he found something very interesting when he read the mission scroll for himself. The orders were to 'prevent Uchiha Sasuke from leaving the country'; it never said anything about being alive! If Sasuke refused to return willingly, than he would be within his rights to kill him, and bring back his head as he would technically be considered a Missing-Nin. Away from the village without official leave or a mission, and refusing to return upon being ordered to by a superior officer! He couldn't BELIEVE that Tsunade had worded it like that, with him on the team; it might have well been an execution warrant. But he would take his victories where he could.

He met the rest of the team by the North Gate. The four were: Chimera, Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji, who happened to have a few shiny new scars on his arms, I wonder from where?

At that point the icing on the cake appeared in the form of local Uchiha-whore, Haruno Sakura who proceeded to say the funniest line he had ever heard.

"Chimera-kun, please, PROMISE ME THAT YOU'LL BRING SASUKE-KUN BACK!" she begged/cried as she tried to convince her 'freak' of a teammate to bring back her 'Sasuke-kun'.

Chimera did the only thing he possibly could in such a situation, laugh.

"Ha ha he he ha ha** ha ha ha ha he he he ha ha ku ku ku ku ku. Don't worry Sakura, I will **definitely bring him back. Whether or not he will be alive when I do however is solely up to him. If Sasuke does not come back willingly than I shall be within my rights to kill him**, no matter who he is, if he doesn't come back willingly, than I shall kill him and bring back his head."** Sakura and his team for this mission were looking horrified at this point.

"Look on the bright side, Sakura** if I kill him, than I will be sure to let you keep the head, you could kiss his head**, like Salome kissed the head of John the Baptist. Actually, it would be FUN to see that happen, lets get going, you three, I'm kind of hoping that he doesn't come back willingly now, I **really want to see that! Let's GO!"**

At that point he dashed off after the four Oto ninja, his sickened team behind him, and a terrified Sakura on the verge of tears watching as the retrieval team dashed after her 'Sasuke-kun', hoping that the other three would stop that maniac from hurting him, and they could all go back to normal.

The poor, deluded, pink-haired, dumb-as-hell bitch.

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It was a few hours of dashing at top speed before they reached the four Oto ninja, dodging several nasty traps all the way, when they did he took in their features. One was a fatass with three Mohawks of orange hair, another had six arms, the third had TWO HEADS, and the fourth was the most normal of them, a hot red-head who swore a lot. They had barely gotten into the clearing when the fatass caught them in a dome of rock, after passing off the barrel that, according to Neji, held Sasuke to the one with six arms.

This Doton jutsu was a real nasty piece of work, a prison that caught the enemy, and then drained their chakra while healing any damage to itself at the same time. A lot of people would have a hard time getting out of it; luckily Chimera was NOT one of those people. He had an idea to get out of it almost immediately.

The first thing he did was get him to speak, in order to find the enemies' position outside of the dome. It wasn't that hard, really. He was over-confident and was easily insulted, one quick cry of 'oi fatass!' and he already had the position of his enemy pinpointed, the rest was easy.

He had a rough idea of how big his opponent was, so after working out where he was, he simply moved over to the wall until he was sure he was right on the other side from him, then stretched out his hand. Before his teammates eyes, his fingers stretched and twisted together until they formed a sort of drill that stretched out and plunged through the wall. After that, they heard a choking sound, and the dome sank into the ground again. When it was gone they realized what their masked teammate had done.

Following the stretched and twisted fingers of his hand, they formed a point that was thrust through the enemy ninja's heart. That was where he was now, staring at the drill of flesh in his chest with dead eyes, and a shocked expression. The three of them found it repulsive, but Chimera found it worthy of a painting. If he had the time, he would have made an easel and canvas right then and there, but he was pressed for time, so the wonderful opportunity went to waste, such a shame.

He tore his hand out of his victim's chest, fingers coated in blood, which he wiped off on the dead enemies' shirt. He looked at his team, their faces were white with shock and fear, he said quickly and tersely "**Let's go."** He then leapt into the trees, his team following close behind.

Within a few hours they had worked out a plan to try and get the barrel with Sasuke in it. Shikamaru would Henge into the ninja that Chimera killed and try to take back the barrel, once he got it, then he would back off as Chimera dealt with, see 'murder in cold blood', the remaining three Shinobi as his team made their escape.

If Shikamaru's cover was blown before he got the barrel, then Shikamaru would get back and try to catch them in his Kage Mane no Jutsu, while the other three attacked and tried to overwhelm the enemy.

They went through with it, however they found out that Shikamaru had done a piss-poor job impersonating the late Jirobo, and they figured it out within a few seconds. The one with six arms, Kidomaru, tossed the barrel to the one with two heads, Sakon, and attacked Shikamaru with a sticky web, while Neji and Chojio ran in head first, and Chimera sent in a batch of Kage Bunshins to force the enemy to use any tricks he might have up his sleeves.

He was right to take caution as the enemy caught his teammates and bunshins in a very sticky, and damn near unbreakable web. That was what he thought at least, until Neji broke the web with his Juuken style. Apparently Neji could break the web, making him the prime opponent to combat the six-armed ninja. He yelled out a quick "Neji, you take **care of this guy, the rest of you follow me!"** and then took of after their target, Shikamaru and Choji right behind him, as Neji prevented Kidomaru from following them.

The remaining three continued onwards until they encountered the remaining two members of the Sound Four, Tayuya and Sakon(and Ukon, technically).

Choji had taken the initiative and tackled Sakon which dropped them both into a large nearby chasm, much to Shikamaru's horror, and Chimera's indifference.

The two remaining ninja were thus left with the gorgeous (in my opinion) Tayuya standing between them and their target.

Shikamaru took on Tayuya while Chimera went for the barrel, he would have made it, but a white-haired man with two red dots upon his forehead, dashed in and grabbed the barrel, telling Tayuya that she was too late, and Orochimaru was forced to take another body before they got there. He then told Tayuya to deal with them both, as he made off with the barrel, Chimera right behind him. Leaving Shikamaru to combat the female member of the Sound Four.

He chased the man, known as Kaguya Kimimaro last of his clan and Orochimaru's most powerful ninja since Kabuto's death, or disintegration, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, he chased the man, who was very quick for a few miles, until they reached a large clearing in the seemingly endless woods, a few miles away from the border, and his mission's failure.

He proceed to talk to the Kaguya, and before five sentences were uttered, he had learned two things, one, the man was fanatically devoted to Orochimaru, and two, he might be in for a half-way descent fight for once.

They then proceeded to engage in high speed combat.

Kimimaro used his Clan's bloodline, the Shikotsumyaku, to manipulate his bones and grow a small katana out of his shoulder, made of bone that was harder than steel, then charged Chimera head on.

Chimera, tired of the fight already, made a quick chop into the air causing the familiar, invisible blade to go slicing into the enemy, but it didn't cut him in half, much to Chimera's consternation, and Kimimaro's shock at the wound's depth, it had been an inch and a half deep! If it wasn't for the bone armor underneath his skin, he would have been badly damaged or dead. He then realized that, unlike his teammates, this ninja was NOT trash, despite his original thoughts, and as he made the decision to take Chimera seriously, he activated the first level of his Tsuchi no Juin, causing the sickle-like marks to spread over his chest, stomach, and neck, and increasing his power by quite a bit.

As this occurred, something else was happening in the clearing. The barrel that held Sasuke, and allowed him to survive the drug that forced the activation of the Juin's second level was oozing purple chakra as the lid was forced open, and a creature jumped out of it and headed into the trees to the North, in the direction of Oto. The only thing that told Chimera that it was Sasuke was the clothes, when he saw that he went back to his fight with the bone-user so that he could give chase to his back-stabbing teammate. And then proceed to cut of his head and mount it on his wall. Hey, we all have our hobbies.

He then proceed to create a swarm of his 'Tracer Eyes' the same technique that he had used on Neji during their match in the Chuunin Exams and set them upon the last of the Kaguya, who leapt away, fearing whatever it was that the strange creatures could do. And for good reason, even if he didn't know that reason.

It was Kimimaro's unbreakable focus and determination that cost him his life. He was too focused upon the Tracer Eyes, and as he turned his full attention upon them, he ignored the extremely dangerous ninja that had created them in the first place. He was considering using his second level of the Juin when he felt an enormous pain in his back, he heard his opponent whisper the words "Fuuton: Rasenshuriken" and then he knew no more as his insides were blown out of the front of his body, and his bodies cells were annihilated. It was very messy. The tracer eyes, seeing their target killed, attacked nearby trees and rocks, and thus self-destructed as their creator jumped off after his power-hungry 'teammate' hoping to get the chance to kill him.

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Konoha, several hours ago

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Kakashi had just turned in his mission report to Tsunade and had left the Hokage tower when he got the news from Sakura. The news of Sasuke leaving the village, of the team sent to retrieval team sent after him, Chimera's placement upon that team, and his intent to kill Sasuke if he could get away with it, legally.

Kakashi didn't say another word to Sakura or anyone else as he dashed off to the North Gate, hoping to get to the sight of the fight that was sure to come before Chimera killed Sasuke. 'Hold on Uchiha-Sama, I will be there soon.' Were his thoughts as he rushed off upon the retrieval team's trail.

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Current time, normal POV

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Sasuke was running as fast as he could, hoping to get out of the country before his teammate caught up to him, he knew that it was Chimera who was chasing him and he really didn't want to fight him, not now, he knew that he would lose more than the fight, he would lose his life, possibly more. He was overjoyed as he reached the Valley of The End, the massive waterfall flanked by two statues, one of the Shodaime Hokage, the other of Uchiha Madara, that marked the border. If he could get out of the country than he was safe, Chimera would stop chasing him. If only he knew, Chimera didn't much care about the border, he would chase Sasuke back into the country if he had too, and then proceed to beat the shit out of him and kill him horribly, unless he could defeat Chimera he was fucked. Then again there is no guarantee that he wouldn't like that.

He had just made it to the top of the statue of his ancient ancestor, when he heard a loud shout of "Uchiha** Sasuke!"** he shuddered in fear, he recognized that voice, he turned around and sure enough, there he was, Chimera, standing on the head of the statue of the Shodaime, hands in sleeves as though he wasn't worried about anything. Sasuke once again got mad at his 'teammate', thinking he was being underestimated. The thing is, he wasn't being underestimated, Chimera just knew that no matter how much power he got from the Juin, he would still lose. His skills were estimated accurately, and to him, they simply weren't a threat.

Despite how much he would like to just cut off Sasuke's head and call it a day, the laws of Konoha dictated that he was given a chance to willingly return to the village, if he agreed then he was forced to return him to Konoha unharmed, assuming that he was kidnapped, if he refused, however, than he would be within his rights to rip his pancreas out through his nose, and enjoy every second of it. He was REALLY hoping that he would refuse his offer.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you are away from the village without** leave, return with me to the village now, or you will be** labeled as a Missing-Nin and subject to summary judgment here and now." Although Sasuke didn't know this, 'summary judgment' pretty much translated into 'painful execution'.

Of course Sasuke wasn't about to allow this chance to gain power from Orochimaru slip through his fingers, he denied the offer to return to Konoha willingly. Before the battle began however, he asked Chimera a question. "Chimera, why are you trying to stop me? Why are you standing in my way?" The response really surprised the young Uchiha.

"It is simple Sasuke, I am only trying to stop you because it is my mission, that and this is my first chance **to kill you and get away with it, and I won't let the chance slip **through my fingers."

Before the battle between the two commenced, however, Sasuke had one last request. "Chimera, if we are to fight here, than remove your mask! I want to be able to see the face of my opponent!"

Chimera thought for a moment, and then made his reply "Very well, **Uchiha Sasuke, I suppose that, it is** fair for you to see the face of your executioner." Then Chimera reached up with his right hand, lowered his hood, and then removed his mask, and put it into the pouch under his robe.

Sasuke examined the face of his teammate for the first time. He had blond hair all tucked into a single, long ponytail that reached his knees, held by an ring of iron at the top, it was his face that was the real killer though. His skin was very pale, not as pale as Orochimaru, but a close second. The flesh was shrunken and withered, like that of a dead man, if he didn't move, then he could have been a walking corpse, his left eye was of a bright cerulean blue, that looked like it was staring at your very soul, bright with the bloodlust and madness that he had seen during the Chuunin exam preliminaries, almost two months ago.

The right side of his face was far less pleasing to the eye. From the forehead, to his cheek, the flesh was seared black as coal, and was oddly, twisted and distorted. It was his right eye that was truly frightening however; it was a single, glowing red orb. There was no pupil, no iris, the entire eye was a single blood red sphere that seemed almost luminous, and looked like an eye that had belonged to the devil himself.

It was like his voice, almost exactly the same, one half was bright like the purest of angels, and the other was dark as the most horrifying of devils and demons. The paradox that it formed almost hypnotized Sasuke, then he spoke and his voice floored Sasuke just as it did the first time he heard it, when he introduced himself as Chimera, long ago. It had both tones of voice, speaking at once. He had only heard that a few times before, when he was very angry and only then for just a word or two, without his mask, both voices spoke in concert. "N**o**w **t**h**a**t **I **h**a**v**e **g**r**a**n**t**e**d **y**o**u**r **r**e**q**u**e**s**t, **S**a**s**u**k**e, **L**E**T** T**H**E **B**A**T**T**L**E **B**E**G**I**N!"

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So, what did you guys think? They finally see Chimera without his mask, sorry if the chapter seems a bit rushed. Sorry if the chapter is a bit short.

Until the Next Update,

Artful Lounger


	11. Chapter 11

Greetings to my many fans and reviewers

Greetings to my many fans and reviewers! I am here to bring you excellent news! Chapter 11 is here! Rejoice! Read and review at the end, you know that you want to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Misashi Kishimoto does, if I owned it, than I wouldn't have fucked it up like THAT awful fuck did. Anything else I borrowed for this fanfic is disclaimed when it first showed up. Lawyers go there, and then get the hell out.

Enjoy the eleventh chapter of Naruto the Chimera, which I REALLY enjoyed writing.

Note: Chimera's voice without his mask is both the angelic and demonic voice speaking in concert, but for the sake of avoiding carpal tunnel, I will write his voice normally, just use your imagination, thanks for understanding.

Second note: listen to the song 'Kioku' while reading the fight, it really accentuates it, just my advice, the two go really well together.

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Last time

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His voice, without his mask, spoke in both tones of voice at once, Sasuke had heard it do that only a few times before, When he was very angry, and even then only for a few words. "Now that I have fulfilled your last request Uchiha Sasuke, LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"

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Valley of the End

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Sasuke stood upon the head of the great statue of Uchiha Madara, one of the two statues that stood in the Valley of the End, his opponent and former teammate Chimera stood, without either hood or mask for the first time, upon the statue of the Shodaime Hokage opposite him, staring at him with all his bloodlust, malice, and hatred with all of the confidence and authority of death itself.

Chimera made the first move, bringing his hand in a horizontal line, causing the normal invisible blade of wind to go slicing into Madara's statue, cutting off the head of the great colossus, making a silent statement that Sasuke would be the next Uchiha to be decapitated in that Valley, as said Uchiha jumped from the slowly falling stone head.

Sasuke prepared a fast Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu which he sent at Chimera at a fast speed, Sharingan activated in an attempt to see Chimera's jutsu. What he saw next flattened him. Chimera did the same thing he did the last time Sasuke used a fire jutsu on him, he went through a number of fast handseals, his hands hidden in his sleeves to prevent Sasuke from copying this jutsu, when it was done, he waited until the dragon was upon him, then held his hands out before him and shouted out "Ninpou: Dark Reflector no Jutsu!"

This time, Sasuke saw what the jutsu did and the possibilities he realized were staggering, a purple field of chakra formed around his opponent, and when his dragon hit the field, it was absorbed into that purple energy. What was worse however was that a few seconds later, the dragon came back out, and it was coming at HIM!

Sasuke moved quickly to avoid the flaming dragon and was not directly hit by it, saving his life. It was wise to avoid things like that dragon in order to retain momentum, and in a fight with Chimera, your vital organs.

Chimera's hands moved in a blur and Sasuke realized what he was doing soon enough to be able to jump in the water of the river. For good reason as it happens, the cliff wall behind him was covered in a deep grid-work of diagonal cuts that looked like a massive net, a net that would have sliced anything it caught into cubes. Sasuke came to the conclusion that his teammate would kill him, and he was foolish to give him the chance he did.

He used his surroundings to his advantage, he didn't know many, but he had a few Suiton Jutsu at his disposal. He went through a few handseals before he used the most powerful Suiton Jutsu he knew. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" he yelled as a great surge of water went toward Chimera upon the Shodaime's head. It didn't connect however, as Chimera went through his own handseals and yelled out "Doton: Doryuu Heki!" as a great wall of Earth formed in front of him, stopping Sasuke's Jutsu cold.

He then went through several more handseals and yelled "Raiton: Rairyuudan no jutsu!" (Lightning release: Lightning dragon technique) as a great dragon of golden electricity was went towards the river where Sasuke was immersed. Sasuke, quickly realizing his great danger, immediately jumped upon one of the logs that were abundant in the river and then leapt to the river bank, narrowly avoiding electrocution at the hands of his former teammate.

By the time Sasuke had caught his breath his opponent had already completed his next jutsu he yelled "Suiton: Kokuun no jutsu!" (Water release, black clouds technique) as he finished this, a black mist seeped from his body, forming great clouds above them, which released a black rain which engulfed the area below the statues, leaving the great edifices untouched.

Sasuke touched a drop of the black rain, which didn't seem to do anything, until he smelled it, at that moment he realized exactly what it was… oil. Realizing what his teammate had planned, he immediately ran and jumped back into the water, just as his teammate completed his next technique and with a cry of "Katon: Dai Endan!" spewed a great blast of flame at his oily rain, setting everything below the statues alight.

The black rain didn't continue for long without him concentrating upon it though, so the flames went out before long with nothing to feed upon, leaving Sasuke free to grab a few gulps of air. Only to have his head be nailed with a powerful downward kick from his fellow teammate, sending him below the water again, while his opponent went through a few quick handseals he had learned from Kisame during their talk during the search from Tsunade while standing on the water. Completing the sequence, he slammed his hand upon the water, sending a stream of water-element chakra into the river with a cry of "Suiton: Goshokuzame!" (Water release: five sharks eating) and as the name implied, the stream of chakra soon split into five great sharks of water that swam towards their target, attacking one at a time, taking small bites, revealing muscle and in some cases bone as they tore at Sasuke's flesh.

Sasuke was in trouble, then he managed to bring out a few kunai and launch them at the great sharks, each hit dissolving one, to Chimera's consternation. It was understandable though, this was only the third time that he had ever used the jutsu, and it was not as strong as it could be. He would have to remedy that later.

Sasuke burst from the water on the bank of the river, gasping for air, and activating his level 1 Ten no Juin to try and gain an edge in the fight. He turned upon Chimera, who was watching him from the middle of the river, thinking about his next move. Sasuke glared at him with a three-tomoed Sharingan, which slightly interested Chimera, apparently the massive mental stress from being so close to death for so long had awakened his Sharingan's final level. This fight would start getting more interesting from now on.

Sasuke went through a number of fast handseals and expelled a large ball of flame with a cry of Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" Chimera responded with a high speed "Suiton: Mizurappa!"(Water release: violent water wave shooting a large jet of water towards his opponent, blowing through the fire and hitting him in the chest, blowing him into the Valley wall.

Sasuke rapidly scaled the valley wall, when he reached the top, he turned and for the first time, activated the second level of the Ten no Juin. It had quite the profound effect on him, his skin turned a light brown, and his hair grew long and took a steely grey color. His eyes turned black, but the Sharingan stayed the same, a deep scarlet with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil. Then he grew two large 'wings' that looked like enormous hands. Oddly enough the entire thing looked like it suited him, like what was on the inside finally came out. Which worked as the entire thing was hideous, and looked vaguely demonic. It had a bonus side-effect of healing his wounds, so he no longer had to worry about the large missing chunks of flesh, which for him was a plus.

The new, demonic looking Sasuke did a few quick handseals, and formed the Chidori except that it was black and Chimera could tell that it was much stronger than the original technique, the sound of a thousand birds filled the air as the new Sasuke took to the skies and dive-bombed him, black Chidori in hand aiming to plunge it into his opponent's chest. The entire thing didn't last long however, as Chimera quickly formed a Kage Bunshin, who did a few quick handseals, as did he, when he completed his sequence he quickly yelled "Fuuton: Fuuryuudan no jutsu!" (wind release: Wind dragon technique) as he blew a great dragon of wind towards Sasuke, not long afterward, his clone completed his jutsu, and expelled a dragon of flame into the wind dragon with a cry of "Katon: Karyuu Endan no jutsu!" (Fire release: fire dragon technique), the two dragons met in the air, twining together and becoming more powerful than either could on their own, and blew Sasuke back, as well as burning him slightly, as he hit the beheaded statue of Uchiha Madara, driving the breath out of him.

Sasuke got up, and looked at his opponent, not a scratch on him, not even breathing hard. Sasuke never even begun to think that Chimera outclassed him by this much! Still, an Uchiha is an Uchiha so he ignored the wise strategy of surrendering and begging for mercy, and instead formed the black Chidori once more, charging at Chimera who was done playing games, but wanted to humiliate Sasuke, even in death, and so instead of using the Fuuton: Rasenshuriken, which would have guaranteed his victory, he instead used the Raiton: Rasenshuriken, to match Sasuke, lightning jutsu, against lightning jutsu. It started as a normal Rasengan, and then glowed bright yellow as lightning was added to it, until four sparking blades of electricity formed around the golden sphere and he ran to meet Sasuke's charge, never blinking for an instant or showing the slightest bit of fear, confident in his victory.

The two techniques clashed with a loud clap of thunder, and lightning sparked all around them as the two techniques clashed, of course the lightning elemental Rasengan won through the feeble spear that was the Chidori, even in this upgraded form, it was no match for the great spinning ball of lightning chakra. There was a large explosion, and lightning burst through the entire valley, visible from miles away.

When the dust cleared a few seconds later, Chimera stood there, unscathed, while Sasuke laid 20 feet away, below a large crater created by the impact of the two techniques, he was not dead, but many bones were broken from the impact with the wall, as well as many burns from the lightning, he was lucky that Chimera had never used the Raiton: Rasenshuriken in combat before, he lost control of the lightning so Sasuke was only hit by a few small bolts, hence the burns. It was not a total loss though, one of the medium sized bolts hit him in the face, from chin to his eyebrow, carving a large gash in his flesh, a massive scar that he would carry forever, more detrimental than the scar however, was the left eye that the gash had hit. He would never be able to use his left eye again.

He would not have to deal with such problems however, as Chimera approached, prepared to finish the job, he used his creation jutsu to form a large executioner's axe as he got closer, he rose the axe high, planning to savor the quick chop that would sever the young Uchiha's head and complete his mission.

As the axe lowered towards the neck of the defenseless and defeated ninja, he thought that this was a fitting end for the boy, the end of a coward, like he gave Haku. He didn't have many morals, only two. The first was the deep sense of debt and obligation that influenced his behavior; the second was a belief that one should die how one lived. A warrior like Haku should have fallen on the battlefield to a superior enemy, weapon in hand, not the death of a coward that Sasuke gave him. Sasuke, however deserved such a death for disrespecting someone who truly deserved that respect, unlike the sniveling Uchiha before him, HE was the one who should die like a coward, murdered in his sleep and that was exactly what Chimera was planning to give him.

Before the axe could carve into his flesh however, an unexpected visitor showed up and stopped the axe before it could cleave the Uchiha's neck in two. Hatake Kakashi had entered the Valley at a dead sprint and had prevented his 'student' from murdering the 'Great Uchiha-Sama'.

Saying that Chimera was surprised was like saying that he was the only straight man in the Valley, an understatement worthy of some kind of award. The last person he wanted to see his face was Kakashi, but here he was, staring at his 'student's' face in wonder and horror, and he whispered two words before the ex-Jinchuuriki knocked him out. '_Uzumaki Naruto'._

He knew that the moment that Kakashi told his name to the Council that he would be put on trial before you could say 'Orochimaru is a pedophile', and seeing Kakashi took all of the joy out of murder for a while, it was quite vexing. He put his mask back on and formed two Kage Bunshins which ordered to pick them both up, knocked out Jounin and bleeding half-corpse and made they their way back to Konoha. And more than likely a rigged trial. It was a good thing that he had gotten word that the terms he gave to Itachi and Kisame had been accepted a few days ago, if fate really existed, it had good timing.

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It was three days since the battle at the Valley of the End. They had all come out of it alright. Neji was in bad shape, as was Choji, but they would both make it. Shikamaru had a broken finger, but he would live. Neji had taken an arrow through the chest and Choji had used all three of the Akimichi's secret pills, but they both won their fights, thanks in part to Kankuro and Temari showing up to help, Gaara would have come too, but he was still healing some massive impact trauma from a large fall he took at some point.

Sasuke had sadly lived, but Chimera's diagnosis at the battle had been accurate, he would carry that scar on his face for the rest of his life, and he would never use his left eye again, Sakura was rumored to have been crying for weeks, and Chimera took comfort in that.

Now for the bad news, Kakashi had spread the knowledge of his real name through the entire village, and almost immediately the Council had passed judgment on the matter, it was official, he was banished from Konoha. His picture under the name 'Chimera' would be posted under Konoha's S-Class criminals for 'unjustly assaulting his fellow Shinobi' he knew that this would happen, he had known it for a long time, before he left the village for the last time though, he had given a few last words and a certain person a gift.

The words were engraved upon the Hokage monument for all to see, the only unmarred face was that of the Sandaime, the message read 'You have signed your own Death Warrant Konoha' the villagers went crazy when they saw that.

He had heard that Sakura was to become Tsunade's apprentice, like it would help. A fangirl is a fangirl and that would never change. Sasuke was going to become Kakashi's apprentice, he would be preparing him to defeat his brother and to give him a chance to survive the next time he met Chimera

Everyone was going to be training, they would need it because the next time he saw a Konoha ninja, he would die. As far as Chimera was concerned, his debt to the Sandaime was paid, and he would kill any Konoha ninja he saw and enjoy it.

His last gift went to Kakashi, he slipped into his apartment at night, just a few hours before he left, and walked over to the sleeping Jounin. He wouldn't kill him, not here, it wouldn't be anywhere close to painful enough. Instead he performed a few handseals and he put in first two fingers of his right hand to Kakashi's temple.

They slid into his head like flesh and bone were water, and Kakashi's eyes went wide, but he could not move. Chimera then did what he did best, cause terror. He mauled his mind and spirit, he tore him apart so bad, mentally, that Kakashi would be having horrifying nightmares every night for the rest of his life. When Chimera was finished he pulled his fingers out of Kakashi's head, as the man himself fell from his bed in convulsions. If you listened closely, you could hear a soft sound, it wasn't obvious unless you paid attention, but it was the sound of Kakashi screaming, his throat was already so raw that he couldn't even make any loud noises at that point.

Chimera knelt over his 'sensei' and said to him "I hope you enjoy my gift, Kakashi, because this is nothing compared to what I will do to you, when I **reclaim my debt in full!"** Then Chimera vanished, as if he was never there, leaving Kakashi with a tortured mind, and dreams of horror.

He encountered Jiraiya as he left the village, he said that he was sorry for how Konoha acted. Chimera only replied "Take care of those who** deserve it my apprentice, they are the ones who **will rebuild when the corruption finally falls. Then he vanished into the night, to make good upon his terms with the Akatsuki.

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Otogakure no Sato

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Orochimaru was weary, he had changed bodies a few days before and he was still getting used to it. Then he heard a sound and whirled to face it, and saw the skull-masked person who had killed Kabuto, and he merely said 'Your time had **come, Orochimaru.'** Then Chimera used Kyuubi's third gift.

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45 minutes later

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When the gift from Kyuubi had done its work, he stood, Orochimaru at his feet, the man's soul in a small black sphere in his hand.

"Hmmm, souls are so pretty, and so vulnerable, **they are the one thing that you cannot strengthen through training, you can only make them darker but if they are **crushed, than the person, might not have even existed." At that point he took the black sphere, Orochimaru's soul, and crushed it in his hand, the entire thing dissolving as the shards fell to the ground.

Then he formed an axe and cut off Orochimaru's head, sealing it inside of a scroll. Then he turned to a nearby pedestal, upon which was a blackened hand, with a ring upon its smallest finger, with the symbol for the void upon it, he took the ring and put it into a pouch beneath his robe. Then he vanished and if not for the corpse, it was as if he was never there in the first place.

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Two days later, the mountains of Iwa

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There were a number of mountains surrounding Iwagakure no Sato, the largest and tallest of which was named Mt. Kaito. That mountain had never been climbed, no one had ever reached the peak, it was said to be impossible.

Not many knew this, but it was due to a powerful barrier that no one had ever made it. As you passed the barrier, it soon became so cold that you would freeze to death. There was a way to make it through, but it was damn near impossible, it required a certain series of handseals and a vocal incantation to be able to go through and live.

When Chimera did so, the barrier became visible and a hole opened for him to pass through.

When Chimera made it to the top, he quickly located a large cave, the reason for the barrier was that this cave was once the nest of the Nanabi, the seven-tailed ice dragon, though now it was sealed by the Akatsuki organization. Now all that inhabited the cave was a single medium sized urn of a dark coloration, covered in seals and sutras.

Chimera walked into the cave and looked at the urn, before he took it and said "It's time you make yourself useful, Kyuubi."

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4 days later, Amegakure no Sato

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It was raining, then again when wasn't it in Amegakure, the village of the Hidden Rain?

Chimera made his way to the office of the leader of the village, and entered the room.

Sitting at a nearby desk was a man with many facial piercings and eyes that were made of concentric gray circles. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds and a ring upon his right thumb with the symbol for zero upon it.

Chimera addressed the man "You are Pein, **the leader of Akatsuki, correct."**

Receiving a nod Chimera put Orochimaru's ring upon his desk, as well as two scrolls containing the Kyuubi's urn and Orochimaru's head.

Chimera then said "I have lived **up to my end of the bargain, as we agreed.** Orochimaru's head, his Akatsuki ring, and the Kyuubi no Kitsune, **now it's your turn to live up to your end of the deal."**

The man known as Pein nodded, and then he picked up the ring on his desk and held it out towards the masked man. "Very well then, Chimera welcome to Akatsuki."

Chimera nodded as he took the ring and placed it upon his left little finger.

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I bet none of you saw that curveball coming, huh? This is the last chapter for the first part of the story, the next chapter will be after the time-skip. What did you think?

Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	12. Chapter 12

Greetings and salutations to my thriving horde of ravenous fans

Greetings and salutations to my thriving horde of ravenous fans! This is Chapter 12 of Naruto the Chimera, and the start of the second part, which takes place after the time-skip. It has been a full three years since the end of the last chapter, what has occurred between then and now?

Disclaimers: look in the first few chapters, the patience to write it here escapes me.

Note: Everyone looks like they did in Shippuden, except Sasuke has a black eye-patch over his left eye, and Chimera is the same in the way of clothing, except his Akatsuki cloak doesn't have a hood.

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Konohagakure no Sato

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It had been three years since the battle between Sasuke and Chimera in the Valley of the End, and Chimera's subsequent banishment.

Sasuke woke up in the Uchiha district, alone as usual. His scar, the one that Chimera gave him during their battle years before gave off a painful throb as he lifted himself from his bed, he clutched at it with a grimace, the damn scar had been causing him pain ever since he got it from that freak years ago.

As far as Sasuke was concerned, Chimera was on his vengeance list, alongside his older brother. That day three years ago, he had taken one of his eyes in their fight, and he despised him for it. He had a taken a part of what makes an Uchiha an Uchiha, their Sharingan eyes. And Sasuke despised him for it and himself for allowing it to happen. He was a Chuunin now, everyone in the 'rookie 12' as they were known back then was a Chuunin now, except for three. Neji was a Jounin, unlike Sasuke, though he was going to take the Jounin exam in 6 months. Kiba was dead, murdered by Chimera, and as for Chimera himself, he was an S-Class criminal, with a bounty of forty-million Ryou. He had apparently killed every Konoha ninja he had seen since he left the village, without exception, a lot of Gennin, Chuunin, and several Jounin had fallen to him, including Shiranui Genma and Uzuki Yuugao, Maito Gai had met him a few months ago, and barely escaped with his life, though he sported a brand new scar on his chest, a diagonal wound from shoulder to hip, just like Kakashi's.

Speaking of Kakashi, he was worse off than anybody. He had apparently not gotten a good night's sleep since Chimera left, hardly ever getting more than one or two hours of sleep at night. He had bags under his eyes almost as bad as Gaara's. Speaking of the Jinchuuriki from Suna, he was actually the Kazekage now, and his brother and sister were both Jounin.

Everyone else was more or less the same as they were, Hinata was shy, especially around Shino, as always, Sakura was a fangirl, although since she had been trained by Tsunade for three years, she wasn't quite as useless in a fight now, Jiraiya was still a pervert etc.

Sasuke had put on his robe, and affixed his sword to his waist, before he looked in the mirror. His face was just an older version of what it was years ago. Except for the ragged scar from his left eyebrow, to the left side of his chin, and the blank white, unseeing orb on the ancient wound's path. Sasuke snorted in disgust, at himself for allowing that freak to maul him that badly, as he put on his eye-patch to cover the worst wound you could give an Uchiha, and walked out to meet Kakashi and Sakura. They were officially a team again, and they were supposed to get their first mission tomorrow. Today they were to redo the Bell Test from all those years ago, to see how well they worked together. What a waste of his Uchiha time.

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Sunagakure, around the same time

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Sabaku no Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage was having a council meeting to discuss Gennin and Academy Student training Regiments, as well as preparing for the Jounin Exams that would be held in Suna in six months, everyone was fairly busy. Since the sand/sound invasion three years ago, which ended in Konoha's victory and the death of the Yondaime Kazekage, as well as Gaara's first major defeat, Gaara had changed quite a bit. He was no longer quite as bloodthirsty as he was back then, at least on a day-to-day basis. In battle, the old psychopathic Gaara from back then reared his head and destroyed his villages' enemies.

The villages' subsequent alliance to Konoha after realizing that it was Orochimaru that had manipulated the Yondaime into getting Suna to assist him had managed to satisfy Konoha and make them show a more forgiving side, especially when they learned the reasoning behind it. As a result Konoha's Godaime Hokage, Tsunade had sent a certain percentage of Konoha's missions over to Suna to prevent a similar incident from occurring again, another invasion was the last thing that either of the village's needed at that point, with the Akatsuki taking as many missions as it could. Because of them a lot of villages were suffering. The lack of missions, combined with the mysterious assassination of Orochimaru, had actually caused Oto to disband as a village. Some of the ninja joined other villages, and a great many went and became freelancers and mercenaries. But Oto was officially no more, and had been no more for almost two and a half years now.

At that point the meeting had come to a conclusion and a basic plan set-up for the Jounin Exams, and the beginnings of a training regiment had been formed. They had a basic idea, and that was the point of the meeting. The meeting tomorrow would be deciding the details. Something rather odd happened as the meeting ended, however. The Security Chief, a man by the name of Yuura, had grasped his head as though from a sudden migraine, then a few seconds later he insisted that he was fine. Very strange indeed, but as the Kazekage he had greater issues to deal with.

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Konohagakure, training ground seven

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Sasuke and Sakura had shown up with Kakashi at training ground 7, the same place where they had taken the Bell Test, all those years ago, when Chimera had mauled Kakashi with a sudden sneak attack and left Sakura to bring him to the hospital. He was looking forward to meeting Chimera again, he wanted to kill him for doing what he did, in fact almost everyone in Konoha wanted Chimera dead, all of the ninja he had murdered had friends and family for the most part. He had killed several members of all of the clans in Konoha, the Aburame, the Akimichi, the Nara, the Hyuuga, and many more. A lot of people hated Chimera for their lost loved ones; he was on the first page of the Bingo Book, labeled kill on sight.

Konoha wasn't alone either, every hidden village, Kiri, Suna, Kumo, Iwa, all of them had Chimera in their Bingo Book under S-Class criminals. He had apparently given the shinobi of other villages the treatment he had given Konoha, murdering every ninja from any village that he saw. He had even massacred a few farming villages and towns, leaving no one alive. He had killed Orochimaru, and had officially taken his place on the world's hate list. Especially in Kumo and Iwa, since he had murdered the Yondaime Raikage and the Godaime Tsuchikage. They hated him as much as the hated Konoha itself for winning the war.

His message was still on the face of the Hokage Monument. Threatening Konoha with death, it was actually carved into the stone so no one could remove it, and any Doton jutsu to fix it and fill in the slices hadn't worked either. A lot of people who had seen what he could do were filled with fear when they saw that message, engraved upon the stone. Fear that he would return and carry out his threat. According to Jiraiya's intelligence reports, he was a member of Akatsuki too, that meant that he was working with Itachi, as far as Sasuke was concerned, it only meant that he knew who to talk to find out about both of his objects of loathing, other Akatsuki members, but they were few and far between and even then, they weren't really willing to talk, and there were very few who could make them, hell most of them were _in_ Akatsuki for God's sake!

Thoughts about powerful Nuke-nin aside, the Bell Test had begun, as soon as Kakashi had removed his headband from his Sharingan eye, the two charged at him, attempting to prove their worth.

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Sunagakure no Sato

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It was a normal, blazing hot day at the gates of Sunagakure no Sato, the village Hidden in The Sand. The village was actually surrounded by a high basin of solid rock that made it almost impossible to get into the village, except at the front gate, a massive crack in the stone that protected the ninja village that ran straight through to the village itself, that was guarded at all times by Squad One of the Sunagakure ANBU Black OPS, the best of the best in the entire village, save for the Kazekage himself. The twenty best ninja that the village had to offer, and they were only deployed for the most difficult of S-Rank missions, such as hunting down powerful renegade ninja, or taking down a heavily armed fortress. A few years ago they had been hired to assassinate the Daimyo of Kusa no Kuni. All the rest of the time they were assigned to protect the village front gate, as the first line of defense against any invader that might attempt to harm the village, it was a boring job, but highly necessary. If it weren't for them anyone would be able to stroll into the village and do who knows how much damage before he was found. Sunagakure was a big place, the physically largest of the five great ninja villages, if you lost someone in there then it could take days to find him again, and who knows how much damage he would be able to do before that happened.

As a result, the best that the village had were simple gate guards, with only their equipment, boredom, anxiety, and a list of people wanted by the village that they were to either apprehend or kill on sight, depending on their crimes and threat level. They were to be especially alert for people who belonged to the Akatsuki organization, and the first few people on the list they all had were known members of the dreaded organization. As a result they were quite shocked when they heard the sound of bells in the air, and the sounds were getting louder, as though whatever was causing them was getting closer.

Then two black shapes appeared on the horizon. The Captain of Squad One, the second-most powerful ninja in the village took a pair on binoculars out from his equipment pouch and used them to zoom in upon the two mysterious figures. They were clad in black cloaks with red clouds printed upon them, and they both wore straw hats with thin sheets of paper hanging down, and concealing their features. Then they both looked up, straight at him, and the captain, from almost a mile away, saw their features. One man had slightly tanned skin, and blond hair with an overly long forelock concealing his left eye, and the other was a light blue. The man wore a scratched Iwagakure headband upon his forehead. The other figure was more mysterious, he was a hunchback, and couldn't be more than four and a half feet tall. He had a dark brown skin coloration, with a black facemask covering everything except his eyes. He wore no visible headband, but he was still a member of Akatsuki, that much was obvious.

He had just turned in order to sound the alert, but the Commander, Yuura was already there, much to the Captain's relief. "Commander Yuura, thank goodness that you're here! We have just spotted two members of Akatsuki, we need to warn the village immediately!"

Yuura merely stood and stared at the approaching silhouettes, not saying a word, preparing for what he was about to do.

The captain, sensing something was amiss, walked over to the Commander, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Commander Yuura?" he asked, wondering if something was wrong.

It happened lightning fast, no one really knew when, but Yuura had pulled a kunai out from his belt and stabbed the Captain in the throat. The Captain fell to the ground with a gurgle as blood spilled from his mouth and he drowned in his own blood. Yuura immediately turned and murdered three others before the rest of the squad realized what was happening, that Yuura was a traitor, but Yuura was tougher than anyone remembered, and before long, with the element of surprise on his side, the entire ANBU squad was either dead or incapacitated, as Yuura stood in front of the gate, awaiting the approaching Akatsuki members, and looking forward to seeing the one who truly holds his allegiance after so long.

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Konohagakure, Training Ground 7

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It had taken some doing, and a bit of favoritism on Kakashi's part, but Sasuke and Sakura had eventually taken the bells from Kakashi's belt. The two had really improved, enough that together they were able to get the better of Kakashi and grab the bells. Sakura, with the massive strength that she had obtained from Tsunade was able to keep Kakashi off-balance while Sasuke bombarded him with a variety of ninjutsu, Kakashi returned fire, of course, but it was mostly aimed at Sakura, he did his best not to harm Sasuke.

It helped that he was weaker than he had been in a long time. His chakra reserves, without appropriate rest had been steadily decreasing over the past three years, and a deep sense of fatigue was always present which acted like a light case of rheumatism, making it more difficult to move, and more willing to give in. He may be a jounin, but he was still weaker than he had been in a long time. It was to be expected, he had not gotten a real night's sleep in over three years, and like a machine, if it was constantly used without repair, eventually something would wear out and break.

Chimera's 'gift' from three years before had been sapping his strength, robbing him of the ability to fight, taking away his pride, and his power. Being slowly weakened and not being able to do a thing about it had a profound psychological affect of Kakashi, it had given him the same deep weariness that you could find in old war veterans that had been in one too many losing battles, a deep sense of surrender, of losing the will to live. No matter what happened, no matter what healing techniques, therapy, or treatments he had tried, he never got much sleep, the nightmares kept coming.

Obito's death, his Sensei's sacrifice, Rin's suicide afterwards, and all of the missions he had been on, all of the people that he had killed and harmed, only he saw it from _their_ perspective, and had felt the pain he had been causing people his entire life in first person, and he always woke himself up with his own screaming, his scar, the one he had received from Chimera the day after he met him, throbbing in pain.

He was regarded as the physically weakest of the Jounin, he was stronger than any Chuunin, but he couldn't defeat any of his comrades in actual battle, or even a light spar, the only reason that he had stayed alive was the fact that he still had experience, and a great deal of skill, enough so that he could turn the battle in his favor against a stronger opponent. It was a sad thing to see, a 29 year old man, in his prime being forced to think and fight like some ancient that should have been retired a long time ago.

Still, he was able to keep up with his student and Tsunade's apprentice for a few hours at least, enough to really gauge their skill, and it was determined that they had officially become 'Team Kakashi' and they would receive their first mission as a 3-man team tomorrow at the Hokage Tower.

The three headed home, Sakura begging Sasuke for a date, who denied it and continued on home to train in solitude. Kakashi went home to try and get some sleep; he would need all that he could get to survive being on active missions again.

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Sunagakure, front gate

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Yuura waited patiently as the two members of Akatsuki finally arrived at Suna's gate, he immediately bowed before the two powerful ninja.

The shorter one, the hunchback said in a gravelly voice "You remember who I am?" Yuura immediately replied "Of course I do, Sasori-Sama." The newly labeled Sasori turned toward his compatriot and said "See, they regain their memories when the seal is released, reverting them back into loyal subordinates."

The taller of the two members of Akatsuki replied "So, if it didn't then it wouldn't be a very good technique, now would it? Let's get going, we have a job to do." The shorter figure nodded as Yuura guided the two through the gate and onto a jut of rock that overlooked the village, there was a ramp on the right side which led into the village proper.

The taller member of Akatsuki quickly molded a blob of white clay that had popped from a mouth on the palm of his hand, forming an elegant hawk-like sculpture. He then tossed the small bird into the air in front of them and made a few rapid handseals. The bird erupted in a large burst of smoke and when the smoke dispersed, there stood a living, moving version of the sculpture, twenty times larger than the original one. The Akatsuki member turned to his hunchbacked companion and asked him "What do you think of my sculpture, master Sasori?" The hunchback replied "You apparently still do not know the true meaning of art, Deidara." The newly labeled Deidara then jumped upon the back of his newly-formed bird and removed his hat, as he replied "It is you who does not truly understand art, Master Sasori, but we don't have time to discuss such things now, we have a job to do. I will attack from the skies!" the bird then flapped its wings and sent Deidara out over the unaware Sunagakure.

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Konoha, Tsunade's office

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Tsunade was locked away in her office with Shizune, trying to decide what mission to give the newly established Team Kakashi in the morning as the first mission they would have together in almost three years. Shizune had recommended a D-Rank of all things, but she was immediately shot down by the logic that Sasuke and Sakura were Chuunin and Kakashi was a Jounin, and that they could handle themselves. But Tsunade did have to admit to herself that missions outside of the village were getting more and more dangerous with Chimera hunting down their Shinobi. He killed every ninja he met, of course, but he seemed to go hunting for Konoha ninja, especially. They had lost a lot of personnel to him over the last three years; it was the main reason that Gennin teams hardly ever received a C-Rank mission nowadays. If they met him than their chances of surviving were next to zero.

The only ones to have survived an encounter with him so far was Gai, and he just got out of the hospital last week from an encounter almost four months ago. He was a major threat to the village, and he was well known to the people. They showed a picture of him to Academy students and Gennin, telling them that if they EVER saw this man, then they were to run for their lives, and tell the nearest Jounin what they saw. 'Not that they would get far.' Tsunade thought grimly, she had seen Chimera in battle and it was a frightening sight. The massive crater that he had created three years ago was still there, in the outskirts of Tanzaku Gai. It was one major indicator of how strong he was, back then, and he could only have gotten stronger over the past three years.

Eventually, they decided to give the newly re-formed team a B-Rank VIP escort mission to Kusa no Kuni, and then they both went home for the night, hoping that they weren't making a mistake.

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Sunagakure

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Deidara's infiltration of the village was successful. Using spiders made from his explosive clay, he had assassinated the three Chuunin who were watching the skies for people like him, infiltrators of the village through the air. And, since they were lacking their heads due to his explosive influence, he managed to infiltrate the village successfully and land on the Kazekage tower. When he looked up however, who should he see, but the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, the Ichibi no Jichuuriki, and Deidara's target. Who after a few quick words attacked him with his sand. Deidara immediately jumped back on his clay bird and took flight to evade the streams of sand coming after him, preparing more explosives all the while.

Deidara soon struck out at the Jinchuuriki with several small clay birds, which were blocked before they could reach the young Kazekage. In response he sent out a large, light brown arm made from sand to crush the blonde Akatsuki member, which was nimbly avoided by the clay bird. Deidara soon formed another few clay birds, just two, but they were specially designed to be faster than his previous models. But, although they reached the red haired teen, one was completely blocked by his sand shield, and the other's blast was mitigated by it enough that it didn't harm him through the armor of sand he wore.

Before long, Gaara had formed a massive sphere of sand around his opponent, and a smaller one around himself. An eye made of sand that was invisibly connected to his optical nerve allowed him to see what was happening outside the sphere of protective sand. Deidara however had a trick that no one thought of, the bird that he was riding on was still explosive, and he used that to escape the sphere of deadly sand, forming another owl-like bird to ride upon as he fell.

The enormous ball of sand opened when Gaara saw this and its contents raged towards the blonde Akatsuki member, as well as a chunk of Gaara's special sand taken from the sphere around him. Although Deidara was more than able to avoid the torrents of sand from the larger sphere, he could not avoid the stream of faster sand from the gourd on Gaara's back, and before long it latched onto Deidara's left arm, to Gaara's relief. Deidara knew that he had to act quickly. He ate the sand with the mouth on his left hand, releasing the explosive mixture into the rest of the sand, while forming clay with the mouth on his right hand, creating a large explosive centipede, which blew the sand off of his arm, though a good amount of Deidara's explosive sand stayed with the Kazekage's batch.

Deidara, seeking to finish the battle, pulled a medium-sized statue from a clip on his belt, and drawing even with the altitude of the Jinchuuriki, threw it into the air, where it disappeared with a large amount of smoke. When it cleared it revealed an enormous version of the statue which then dropped upon the village below.

The village in question had been preparing to defend itself. The civilians were being led to safe areas, while Shinobi protected important areas, such as the greenhouses for their medical herbs, and the reservoir. Kankuro and Baki were overseeing the effort. Everyone else were preparing large ballistae to fire javelins at the aerial target that the Kazekage was engaging. They had seen the cloak through binoculars, and they knew that their enemy was part of the Akatsuki, they weren't taking any chances. When the enormous clay statue appeared though, they all thought that they were finished. But when the massive explosive detonated, they regained their hope. The explosion had been blocked by a massive body of sand, everyone sighed in relief when they saw that. They had all thought that their time had come.

They all sucked that breath back in again when a small clay bird came out of nowhere and soared right into Gaara's face, through the hole in the sand shield around him. And, with a cry of 'Katsu!' from the airborne Akatsuki member, the bird exploded, shrouding the sphere in smoke. Everyone watched with baited breath, hoping to see that the Kazekage was okay. They were rewarded, when the smoke cleared, and the sphere was intact, Gaara unharmed. The sand that he had used to try and crush Deidara's arm had returned in time to block the explosion, though it was a VERY close call.

They were all surprised when the mixture that Deidara had introduced to Gaara's sand formed oversized ants, crawled through to Gaara and detonated at point blank range, causing the sphere to collapse and Gaara to be driven unconscious. He had managed to stay awake just long enough to get the massive cluster of sand over the village's walls, so that no one would be crushed by it.

Gaara then fell, his sand around him, while Deidara made his way over to the unconscious red head, and caught him in the bird's tail feathers. He said two words as he flew over towards the gate, avoiding explosive javelins that soon stopped being fired for fear of hitting Gaara. As a result he safely made his way outside of the village gate, Kazekage in tow.

He met Sasori as he landed who proceeded to ask "What the hell took you so long?!" Deidara responded instantly, knowing just how irritated his comrade could become "I underestimated him, he was a lot tougher than I had reason to suspect, and it was hard to take him alive."

According to Sasori, that was no excuse he should have been better prepared, but they still left. They didn't want to be nearby when Suna came after the Kazekage.

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Kankuro POV

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Kankuro reached the gate with a squad of five jounin with him, but he suspected something was amiss, the enemy had landed at the village gate, where the best of the ANBU were stationed, but they heard no sounds of battle. He turned out to be right when they arrived, the entire first squad was dead, and the walls of the passage through the basin wall collapsed in upon them, burying them all with rubble. Kankuro, thinking quickly, had released his puppet Sanshuou, and managed to protect him and two others from the falling rocks.

It was almost ten minutes later by the time he had managed to escape and Baki was only a few feet away, he handed over the two unconscious jounin, and set off after Gaara's kidnapper, promising Baki that he wouldn't do anything drastic.

He made his way over the rocks and followed the well-hidden trail of the Akatsuki members. It was about ten miles from the village when he finally found them, the tall one, the one who kidnapped Gaara, continued on leaving Kankuro to combat his hunchbacked comrade. The battle didn't last long, and when it was over Kankuro laid on the ground, poisoned, his puppets destroyed, his enemy an S-Class missing-nin from Suna, Akasuna no Sasori, walking away from the battle without a scratch.

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Konoha, the 'mission room'

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The newly dubbed 'Team Kakashi' had just received their mission, when a woman from the decoding dept. ran into the room, showing an urgent message to Tsunade, when she read it, her face showed her shock. Kakashi asked tentatively "What is it?" Tsunade replied in a terse, serious voice "Suna's Kazekage… has been kidnapped by Akatsuki, and they are asking for our help since we have more information pertaining to Akatsuki then they do." She then continued "And I am sending you three to Suna, you are to gather information on this incident, you are also to follow their orders and assist them in whatever way you can, you are to leave immediately!" she received an immediate "YES MAAM!" from the three as they turned to leave. Sakura was frightened, Akatsuki members were supposed to be really strong. Kakashi was tense, the last time he met an Akatsuki member, he had been knocked unconscious for almost two weeks. Sasuke was hopeful, the two people he wanted to kill the most, Itachi and Chimera were both in the Akatsuki, and he was hoping to be able to kill one of them on this mission.

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River country, Akatsuki's cave

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Deidara and Sasori had finally made it to the place where they were supposed to extract the Ichibi; they made their way to a large stone behind a wooden gate. Deidara did a few quick handsigns and the massive stone raised and the 'Gogyou Kekkai' (five-seal barrier) lowered, allowing them entry to the cave. As they entered, the stone lowered and the barrier was replaced, as they walked in a silhouette appeared, it was of the leader, Pein.

He told them that they were late, and after receiving a satisfactory response, he went through a few quick handseals and a large sculpture appeared it consisted of a large head with nine closed eyes and a gagged mouth, as well as two hands coming out of the ground in front of it, the ten fingers raised, The King of Hell Statue. The silhouette of Pein vanished and reappeared upon the thumb of the statue's right hand, Deidara moved on to the statue's right index finger, Sasori moved to the statue's left thumb.

The silhouette of Pein then made several handsigns and said a single word 'assemble' and silhouettes appeared upon all of the fingers. A female looking silhouette appeared on the statue's right middle finger, Itachi's silhouette appeared on the right ring finger, and Zetsu's silhouette appeared on the finger beyond. A silhouette of Hidan, the Jashin priest appeared on the Statue's left index finger, a massive figure appeared on the finger to his left, Kakuzu, Kisame's figure appeared on the left ring finger, and on the left little finger appeared a slender figure, with a skull-like mask, Chimera.

The last figure said "How long should this take,** Pein?"**

The figure of the leader responded "Since this is your first time sealing a Bijuu, we should give it three days. Now, let's get this done." Everyone made several handseals simultaneously, and symbols appeared in a sphere of light below each finger. Below Pein appeared the symbol for 'zero', below Deidara appeared the symbol for 'Seiryu' below Konan appeared the symbol for 'Byakko' below Itachi appeared the symbol for 'Suzaku', blow Zetsu appeared the symbol for 'Genbu'. Below Sasori appeared the symbol for 'jewel', below Hidan formed the symbol for 'three', below Kakuzu formed the symbol for 'North star', below Kisame formed the symbol for 'South star', and below Chimera formed the symbol for 'The Void'.

The ten of them yelled simultaneously as nine dragons of chakra spouted from the statue's unsealed mouth and enveloped Gaara "Fuuin no jutsu Genryuu KyuuFuujin!" (Phantom Dragon's Nine Seals)

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So what did you guys think? This might be the one of the longest chapters yet, so until the next chapter, Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, and welcome to Naruto the Chimera, ch

Hello, and welcome to Naruto the Chimera, ch.13…eerie. I'm afraid that after I post this chapter that I'll get hit by a bus or something, but it is a risk that I am willing to take for you all!

The disclaimers are in the first few chapters, the snack-bar is in the back, and to all lawyers, the door is in the upper right hand corner of the screen… use it.

Sorry if I made Chimera seem like a background character in the last chapter, its main purpose was to ease the transition between the first section and the second, the second section's prologue, if you will. Anyways, enjoy.

Note: I edited chapter 12 a bit, I apparently got the translation wrong on the Akatsuki's sealing jutsu, so I just fixed that, nothing major.

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Konohagakure no Sato

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It was early in the morning at Konoha's massive gates. The newly formed Team Kakashi, consisting of Sakura, Hatake Kakashi himself, and his personal apprentice Sasuke, were making their way to Sunagakure no Sato for their first mission. It was an S-Rank mission due to the involvement of Akatsuki, they were to go to Sunagakure, who had had its Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara kidnapped by said organization, and follow their orders to get things under control there, with a side objective of trying to kill as many members of Akatsuki as they could. Before they had gotten very far, they were joined by Temari, the kidnapped Kazekage's older sister, who had heard what had happened and was going to accompany them back to her home village, where she would be needed to assist with the latest crisis.

They moved quickly, the two women with dread, one at the thought that she may lose her little brother, the other at the thought that she may have to combat some of the strongest people alive on this mission, Akatsuki members were no pushovers. Kakashi and Sasuke moved with a certain amount of anxiety and excitement, Kakashi also felt a deep weariness that had been eating at him for years. Sasuke was just happy that he had finally gotten a chance to confront either his brother, Uchiha Itachi, or his ex-teammate, Chimera. Both of which he hated with a passion.

They moved quickly and in silence, swallowing the occasional soldier pill every few hours in order to have the energy to keep going for so long, it would be at least a day and a half before they finally reached Suna, if they kept up that pace, and they needed to get there as soon as possible. Who knows what Akatsuki could be doing to the kidnapped Kazekage?

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Sunagakure

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Kankuro had been brought back to the village, along with his smashed and broken puppets. When they got there, he was brought to the emergency room immediately. He had gotten nailed with a very powerful and unknown poison, developed by one of the Akatsuki members. His actual wounds weren't that bad, a few scratches at most, but the poison was the major problem, as they had no idea how to treat it, every antidote they had, they tried and none of them worked, every time they tried to map the poison's genome, they hit some dead end, it was exasperating.

It was a medic's worst nightmare, a nasty poison that they had no idea how to cure and was causing the patient more and more pain by the minute. It was a small comfort that the poor guy was at least unconscious, no one wanted to here the screaming that much pain would cause someone to do. He had regained consciousness for a few minutes, though. It wasn't for very long. Just long enough to tell his sensei, Baki, something that made the veteran Jounin's eyes go wide with shock, and then he left in quite a hurry afterwards. The medics agreed that if it made Baki scared, they weren't sure that they even _wanted _to know.

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Sunagakure, tower at the north side of the village

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Baki had made his way to the home of someone that he knew could help Kankuro. Kankuro had told him who had poisoned him the day before, and he decided that if this person couldn't or wouldn't help, then Kankuro was fucked unless the group Konoha promised to send, which was supposed to arrive later that day, contained Tsunade herself.

When he finally reached the extremely out of the way home, he was received with indifference. Suna's greatest medical ninja, Elder Chiyo, and her brother Ebizu made it quite clear that they were retired and that the village and whatever happened to it was not their problem.

He had been unable to change their minds, until he told the m the name of the one who poisoned Kankuro. Akasuna no Sasori, S-Class criminal of Sunagakure, and Chiyo's grandson. She had agreed to help almost immediately.

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Sunagakure hospital, four hours later

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After a great amount of effort on Chiyo's part, she had to admit that she couldn't cure Kankuro of his poison. Her grandson had become extremely skilled in poisons it would seem. He was always very skilled in such things, but this was incredible, Chiyo was the second-greatest maker of poisons and antidotes in the entire world, inferior only to Tsunade herself. Still, it wasn't surprising that the poison was so strong and difficult to cure. Sasori must have been very confident in the poison, otherwise he would have just finished off the young puppet master. Either that, or Sasori had intended it as a challenge to Suna's medical dept. He was known to do such things, but if he had meant this to be the latter, then he had won. No one in Suna could cure Kankuro's ailment, all they could do was numb the pain, pray, and hope that the Konoha shinobi, when they got there, had a poison specialist among them.

It was determined that the young man would last one more day, if he made it through until morning, if the Konoha team didn't make it by then, Kankuro was doomed.

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Konoha, Tsunade's office, the next morning

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Tsunade was enjoying her morning, at least as much as she possibly could with this whole Kazekage affair. She had just reached down for her glass of tea when it suddenly cracked without warning. Reacting to the bad omen, Tsunade immediately fished the newspaper out from her desk and checked her ticket. It was as she feared, she had won, and even worse she had won the Grand Prize! She called Shizune into her office immediately and arranged to have reinforcements sent after Kakashi's team in Suna. Since they needed power and speed, she sent the best team she could in such conditions, and the fastest of the Chuunin teams, Team Gai.

Within the hour, Team Gai was dashing towards Sunagakure as fast as they could, while Tsunade sent a message back with the messenger bird that Suna had sent, informing them to expect another team within a day of the first's arrival.

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Akatsuki's Cave (one of many)

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They had been at this damn sealing jutsu for over twelve hours already and they had yet to see any noticeable results. Then the leader, Pein suddenly said "We are entering the second stage." Sure enough, Gaara's eyes and mouth were forced open and a flood of red, demonic chakra spewed forth from them and into the mouth of the statue, and as the red chakra flowed into the statue's mouth, it started to form into a large deep red sphere, and the nine eyes of the King of Hell Statue began to slowly open.

'About damn time we saw some results.'

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Sunagakure, front gate

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The two guards of the front gate were very tense, they were expecting another attack at any moment, and if they saw anything even slightly suspicious, they were to report it in. If they hurried, the team from Konoha should be getting there at any moment, but with the sandstorm they had last night, it was extremely unlikely.

But, lo and behold, four black shapes appeared and quickly made their way to Suna's main gate. Three of them had Konoha headbands, and the fourth was the Kazekage's sister, Temari.

Of the remaining three, one had pink hair, one had grey hair and his headband covered his left eye, and the one that showed had large, dark thick rings around it, clear signs of massive sleep deprivation, and the last had a black eye-patch covering his left eye, which must have been damaged in the battle which had given him that scar.

The gate guard cried out "Thank goodness, we were waiting for you guys!" and quickly showed them to the village, and after informing them about Kankuro's critical condition, to the hospital when Sakura said that she would take a look at him.

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A few hours later

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Amazingly enough, the girl had managed to heal the badly injured Kankuro, he wasn't out of the woods yet, but he was out of immediate danger, much to everyone's relief. It turned out that the girl that had healed Kankuro was Tsunade's personal apprentice, which was good because anyone else would have seen Kankuro dead due to lack of skill and training.

As she left to prepare an antidote to the poison using a sample she procured from the operation that saved Kankuro's life, a message came in via messenger bird from the Hokage. It told everyone that she was sending Team Gai to act as reinforcements for the mission, to Kakashi's relief; they couldn't fight two Akatsuki members on their own.

He then turned to Baki and requested to be taken to where Kankuro fought Sasori, so that he could locate the Akatsuki members' scents. Kankuro had apparently made such a trip unnecessary however.

He told them that if he followed Gaara's scent, he would find his kidnapper, and as for the person who HE fought, he had his puppet Karasu open its hand, revealing a section of torn black cloth. According to Kankuro, it was a part of the enemy's face mask. Kakashi nodded in approval and took the cloth as Kankuro went back under.

Using a few quick handsigns he use a quick Kuchiyose no jutsu to summon his squad of ninja dogs. He had them smell the piece of cloth, and follow the scent and report back to him once they found out where it led. The leader of the ninja dogs, Pakkun nodded and the eight dogs vanished. Then he and Sasuke settled down to wait for either word of Akatsuki or for Gai's team to show up.

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Akatsuki Cave

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Chimera was still bored as fuck, but at least they were half done. The sphere of demonic chakra was half-way formed and the eyes were half-way opened. He idly wondered 'Why the hell does it take an hour or two to seal one of these things, but three goddamn days to rip it out?' Well, at least they only had a day and a half of this left.

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Outside of the cave

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Pakkun stood upon the cliff overlooking the river, the entrance to the Akatsuki's temporary base where they were extracting the Ichibi from Gaara was at the bottom of the other cliff wall. 'I've found it' thought the small dog. 'I need to get back to Kakashi, pronto. They'll sense me if I stay here any longer.' Then the ninja dog ran back to Sunagakure as fast as he could, the sooner they got into that cave the better.

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Sunagakure, 12 hours later

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The three of them were waiting for Gai's team to get there, and for Kakashi's dogs to get back, they were sleeping, or at least Sakura and Sasuke were, Kakashi had already had his normal two hours worth. Then Pakkun came rushing in through the door, saying that he found Akatsuki's hideout! He woke up his team immediately, and after a few seconds of wake-up groaning, they were all ears.

According to Pakkun, they were using a cave in river country as their hideout, it was about a days run from Sunagakure, but Kakashi realized that they needed to tell Team Gai about this, or else they would come to Suna and be out of the loop until the battle was decided for good or ill, plus if the cave was where Pakkun said that it was, than Gai and his team should be closer to it than they were at the moment.

He made a quick decision to have Pakkun find Gai and lead him to the cave. Pakkun stayed just long enough to show the three where the cave was on a map, and then rushed out of there as fast as he could. Afterwards, the three of them prepared themselves for fast travel and heavy combat, they needed to leave immediately, time was of the essence.

Thirty minutes later they were headed for the gates of Suna, when the old lady, Chiyo, jumped out of nowhere and said that she wanted to come with them. Knowing her relationship with Sasori, one of the confirmed Akatsuki members that would be at the fight, they really couldn't turn her away, she could be of use on the mission.

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With Gai's team, roughly 4 hours after Pakkun left Suna

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They had been running almost non-stop in order to get to Suna so they could help Team Kakashi with their mission, they had almost reached the border when one of Kakashi's ninja dogs had shown up and told them that there was a change of plan, they had found Akatsuki's hideout in River Country and the Kazekage was there. The dog was there to guide them to it and they would meet Team Kakashi there.

So, at the dog's behest, they changed direction and headed off towards River Country.

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Akatsuki Cave

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They had been sealing the Ichibi for almost three days, and it was exhausting for everyone there. Then to add even more trouble into it, Zetsu, who had been watching the area around the cave for people who would try to interfere, as he was the only one who could move during the sealing process, had reported a team was headed straight for them.

They thought for about a minute, and finally decided to use the Shouten no jutsu to hold them off, at least until the sealing was complete, or long enough for them to complete the sealing without interference.

"SO, who's going to go?" asked the figure on the statue's right thumb.

The figure on the left pinky asked "Who is in the team heading for us again Zetsu?"

The reply came from the figure on the statue's right pinky, who looked like his head was in a Venus flytrap "It is a Konoha Jounin, Maito Gai and his students."

This was received with delight by two members of the organization. The figure in the skull-like mask said "Gai? I've met him a few times, very adept in Taijutsu. I left him a nice big scar **the last time I saw him. I'm kind of surprised that he's out of the hospital this soon. OI, Pein!** Let me be the one to take care of them, I'll finish the job this time."

This was met with a harsh reply by the figure on the finger to his right, Kisame. "No way, you get enough fun as it is, I haven't gotten into a good fight in a while, plus I owe this guy some payback."

The figure on the left index finger made his claim to the fight as well "No, I should be the one to go, they would make fine offerings to Jashin-Sama."

Pein responded in order to stop this dispute, "I have made my decision, and Kisame will be the one to go." This was met with a whoop of joy from Kisame and cries of outrage from the other two.

"Think about it for a second, Kisame has a personal grudge in this matter, and he also has the most chakra out of anyone in Akatsuki, albeit barely, so he is perfect for the technique. Kisame I will need thirty percent of your chakra." The two bored Akatsuki members quieted down as Pein went through several handseals and used the Shouten no jutsu on one of the poor bastards they had on hand in the cave in case of just such an emergency as Kisame nodded his head and closed his eyes.

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With Team Gai, 6 hours until Sealing is complete

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Gai and his team consisting of his students Rock Lee and Tenten, who were both Chuunin, and Neji, who was a Jounin as well were going through a rocky, mountainous plain, following the directions of Pakkun who was leading them to the cave that Akatsuki was keeping Gaara in, when the

Nin-dog told them that someone was coming; Neji immediately activated his Byakugan, seeking out the threat. After about a minute of searching he yelled "Behind us!"

They all turned to where Neji indicated as a large, white object emerged forcefully from the ground and started toward them, like a shark fin in water. The five of them jumped out of the way of the strange object, onto two small pillars of rock, as the object hit the middle-sized mountain that was in its path, blowing it to pieces. Gai narrowed his eyes in worry, wondering who their enemy was.

As the dust cleared, it revealed a large man with blue skin, and gills painted onto his cheeks. He wore a Kiri headband with a deep scratch in the symbol; he held the white object from before, revealed to be a large sword swathed in cloth in one hand, balanced on one shoulder. He also wore a black cloak with red clouds upon it. The man was a member of Akatsuki.

Gai reacted immediately "You…." He said it like he recognized the man.

Lee asked, "Do you know him, Gai-Sensei?"

Gai continued on as if he hadn't heard "…Who are you?"

The Akatsuki member narrowed his eyes in irritation, and at the same time, Neji and Tenten resisted the urge to sweat-drop, contented with looking at the spandex-clad ninja like he was crazy given the serious situation.

Neji activated his Byakugan and looked upon the strange man. He said to his teammates "This guy has an insane amount of chakra." The other three looked towards him at this. "I haven't seen this much since I fought Chimera in Third Exam all those years ago." He captured their attention rather quickly with this, Chimera's shadow had long since spread over everyone in Konoha. They had all met him and had seen a portion of his power. Lee, Neji, and Gai especially. Lee asked, as if in doubt "That much? Are you sure?"

At the same time the blue-skinned man asked Gai "You really don't recognize me?"

Gai reacted, as though suddenly remembering something important "It can't be you…!"

The Akatsuki member seemed pleased by this "Now you've got it."

Gai continued "…You've met me before?"

Somewhat irked the Akatsuki member leaned forward and said "It seems that the beast has the brain of one as well. No matter, I will make you remember soon enough."

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With Team Kakashi

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Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Chiyo were making their way through the woods of River Country in silence, moving as fast as they could to get to their enemies' hideout quickly.

What they didn't notice was a man who was split into black and white halves with what looked like a Venus flytrap engulfing his head, silently watching them while reporting their presence to the others who were in the cave.

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Akatsuki Cave

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Zetsu opened his eyes and said "There are more enemies on the way."

Pein looked toward Deidara and said "It's getting a bit crazier around here than usual eh, Deidara?" a bit of chastisement in his tone.

"Deidara looked toward the group's leader and said "Hey, this one was stronger than the other two so far."

Sasori then responded to his partner's claim. "I tried to tell you, but you didn't listen, your moves aren't very good for stealth missions."

Deidara, irritated, heatedly responded "Your traps were rather extravagant as well, Sasori no Danna."

Pein immediately responded "Enough! Everyone just concentrate on the technique! So, who else is going?"

Hidan immediately asked "Can I go this time?"

Zetsu then reported "It's more Konoha Shinobi, Hatake Kakashi and his team." Chimera perked his ears up at this.

Pein, knowing the history, or at least enough of it, behind their newest member said "Well, it's decided then." He then went through several handsigns and used the second sacrifice they had in the cave as Chimera closed his eyes, took over his duplicate and left the cave towards his old teammates.

Hidan said, as soon as he was gone "Man, why the fuck does he get the fun missions? We're all looking for Jinchuuriki, while he gets a nice cozy job hunting down Gennin and Jounin from the hidden villages? It's not fair."

Pein responded to his fellow member's gripe/question and said "The reason he gets the 'fun job' Hidan is because unlike most of you, Chimera had already obtained his Bijuu. The only ones among you to have done so aside from him are Konan, who caught the Nanabi, Zetsu, who caught the Rokubi, and now Deidara, who caught the Ichibi."

This was a surprise to most of the others. Pein was the only one required to seal the Kyuubi, weakened as it was by all of the seals and locks placed on the urn in which Chimera contained it. Itachi knew as well of course, as did Konan, due to the fact that she was there when Chimera came through on his end of the deal, and because Itachi needed a reason as to why he was now to hunt the Hachibi instead of the Kyuubi all of a sudden.

Hidan asked "So, which one did he catch? And what's with his assignment anyway, killing every Gennin and Jounin he meets? What's the fucking point of it? The Jounin I can understand but why Gennin?"

Pein saw fit to give this a response "The reason, Hidan, is latent potential, as well as weakening the villages. The next step in our plan will be easier to accomplish with the villages weakened. That and the latent potential of the Gennin. We can never be sure when some Gennin might grow up into the next Yellow Flash, his job is to do both of these through murdering the Gennin and Jounin, making our job easier and eliminating potential threats at the same time. As for which Bijuu he captured… you know the eye layout, take a look."

Hidan as well as the others looked towards the nine eyes of the statue, which were wide enough to see the irises now. There were four on either side, and one large one in the center. Each one was a prison for a specific Bijuu, and having an iris meant that the prison was occupied. Of the left four, only the one on the top right was occupied, the Rokubi. On the right side, it was the lower left, the prison of the Nanabi. The surprise though was that the center eye, the prison for the Kyuubi was filled. Kyuubi was the most powerful of the nine, and Chimera had captured it by himself. The members of Akatsuki found new respect for their masked comrade.

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Kakashi's Team

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As the team moved through the woods of River country, Chiyo asked a question. 'Where's your third teammate?'

They asked what she was talking about.

"It's obvious isn't it? The teams are made like that in every village, three Gennin to a Jounin, so where's the third Gennin on this team?" They grew silent, and when they responded, Chiyo understood why.

It was Sakura who answered "Our third teammate was someone by the name of Chimera. He was extremely powerful. But he was insane, in a bad way. And one day he attacked Sasuke-kun and gave him his scar. He was banished from the village a few days later. Before he left though, he carved a message into the Hokage Mountain, threatening Konoha with death when he returned, and gave Kakashi-Sensei his Nightmare Curse."

Chiyo asked though, "So where is he now, do you know?"

Sakura answered, voice cracking with fear of the person they were talking about "He is listed as an S-Class criminal in every hidden village, including Suna, for the murder of dozens of Gennin and Jounin. He is especially wanted in Kumo and Iwa, due to the fact that he killed the Yondaime Raikage and the Godaime Tsuchikage. He also killed ex-Akatsuki member and Konoha S-Class criminal Orochimaru. According to recent reports however, Chimera is a member of Akatsuki."

Chiyo was shocked, someone as young as these two had already done so much, it was simply amazing.

Then they entered a large clearing, where they saw a tall, slim figure wearing an Akatsuki cloak. Sakura was frozen in fear and sudden shock, as was Kakashi, and Sasuke. Chiyo looked the figure up and down. He wore and Akatsuki cloak, and standard ninja sandals, and he had his hands in his sleeves. As her eyes reached upwards, she noticed that the figure had long blonde hair in a ponytail that reached his knees and a hangman's noose of thin, fine rope around his neck. She looked at his face and saw a white mask that looked like the top half of a human skull, the teeth extremely long to cover his lower face, and three small horns near the middle of its forehead.

She asked the other three "Who is he, do you recognize him?" It was Sasuke who replied "Yeah, we know him." The masked figure then said "It has been **three years my former teammates. Hello, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi."**

Again it was Sasuke who replied fear, anger and hatred mixed into his voice, and when Chiyo heard what he said, she joined the others in shock "Hello Chimera!"

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Secret Super SSS-Class forbidden jutsu: Cliffhanger no Jutsu!

Sorry about it though, I really am. As for why this update took longer than usual, well what can I say? My computer hated me for a few days.

Anyway, what do you think of the chapter? Read Review and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	14. Chapter 14

Greetings to my great hordes of fans and admirers

Greetings to my great hordes of fans and admirers! I am here to tell you that Naruto the Chimera ch.14 is now released! Enjoy reading it, I sure as hell enjoyed writing it.

Note: My prediction about the bus in the AN in the last chapter about the bus almost came true. It missed me by about two feet, man oh man the risks I take for you guys.

Disclaimers: Are in the first 4-5 chapters, lawyers go there, and then leave because you aren't getting a dime out of me!

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The masked figure in the Akatsuki cloak spoke "Hello my old teammates, **Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, it has been a while.**

When Sasuke replied, his voice laced with hatred, fear, and pride, the name of the new enemy shocked Chiyo as much as the other three had been when they first saw him.

"Hello, Chimera."

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With Team Kakashi, 2 hours until Sealing is complete

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Chiyo was shocked, if she had heard right then the figure before them used to be on their team. To be sure, she asked "Is this him, the third member on your team that you were telling me about?" Sakura, still surprised by the sudden reappearance of her old fear, shakily nodded.

The figure, now identified as Team Kakashi's long lost fourth member, Chimera spoke again "How have you been these last few years?** Did you enjoy my gift Kakashi? What about you Sakura, **have you become a real ninja yet or are you still a fangirl? Sasuke, how have you been getting along with just one eye?"

As he spoke each of their names, each member of Team Kakashi grew more scared and then angrier, Chiyo noticed this and tried to stop what their enemy was doing. "Don't act rashly, we need to think carefully and not rush in, from what you have told me so far, that would be suicide." Seeing her colleagues calm down, she studied her enemy as his gaze drifted towards Chiyo for the first time.

"So, is this old bag my replacement on your team? My my, I didn't think you would be so desperate as to pull someone out of their retirement home."

Chiyo refrained herself from anger and analyzed her opponent, and try to find an opening in his guard. She was shocked to find that despite Chimera's relaxed stance, there were no openings whatsoever! She got on her guard, ready to attack, defend, or get out of the way at a moment's notice. She whispered to her allies "So, what can you tell me about how this guy fights?" Sasuke replied first "Don't bother whispering Chiyo, he can hear you." Surprising her even more than she was already was the fact that Chimera replied to the statement.

"Yes I can, tell** me; do any of you think that you will leave this **place alive?" Sasuke heatedly replied, doing his best to keep from rushing toward his former teammate as fast as he could. "Don't get cocky, I've gotten better Chimera, we all have, together we can take you down."

Chimera looked toward the foolish Uchiha "It hardly matters how good you both have gotten, or who you trained with, Sasuke. I defeated Kakashi the day after I met him, and Sakura, I defeated Tsunade in a fight within two hours of my meeting her, if I can defeat your Senseis**, what makes you think that I couldn't defeat their half-trained apprentices? Mind you, THAT was three years ago, and you are not the only people to have gotten stronger during that time, I have gotten better as well."** Then he raised his left hand, and made a horizontal chop in the air before him as the four against him ran for fear of being cut in half, Sakura pulling Chiyo behind a few nearby trees, Kakashi and Sasuke heading in their own directions as the trees behind them were sliced in two.

Sakura took the opportunity to inform Chiyo of what she knew of her former teammate. "Listen Chiyo-Sama, and pay attention, be ready to move at a moment's notice." Seeing her nod, Sakura continued "From what I know he had a vast collection of ninjutsu of all elements at his command, as well as immense speed. He has mastered the Yondaime's Rasengan and has taken it to entirely new levels of power; he also has an affinity for all five elements. Whatever you do, DO NOT LET HIM MAKE PHYSICAL CONTACT! He has a jutsu that condenses and compacts his chakra into physical objects, kunai, bombs, even living things, so he can make whatever he needs at a seconds notice. If he makes physical contact, he can create a bomb inside of your body, it will either kill you or take off a limb if he gets the chance to use it. He can also manipulate his body, moving his vital organs, bones, and even his chakra coils where he wants to, so human anatomy is unreliable to use against him he also has an incredibly rapid healing factor, poisons don't work and neither does Genjutsu, or mid to long range Ninjutsu. Most of his techniques slice the enemy to pieces, blows them apart, or destroys them completely, understand? Mind you, that's just what I know, but I have read all the intelligence reports on him." Chiyo was shocked, she had never heard of ANYTHING like this, this boy, no this man, was as close to invincible as she had ever seen someone become, it was incredible.

They both watched the fight between the three, waiting for their chance to strike.

Chimera easily dodged Kakashi's Raikiri, simply sidestepping out of his way as he came rushing towards him. Then Sasuke came out of nowhere and unleashed a large Gokakyuu no jutsu upon his ex-teammate, this was handled like the Gokakyuu he used against him in the Valley, all those years before. He went through a few quick handseals and with a cry of "Suiton: Mizurappa!" blew out a large stream of water, going straight through the enormous fireball and blowing Sasuke back twenty feet, hitting a tree. He fell to the ground unconscious. He then searched for Kakashi, doubting he would fair much better than his student. He made a rapid Kawarimi as he felt Kakashi's hands come out of the ground and grab for his ankles, replacing himself with an explosive Kage Bunshin. The hands dragged the clone underground, and then he detonated it, blowing Kakashi out of the ground and kicking up a few pounds of earth at the same time. He then turned his attention to Sakura, the medic, and the heir to Tsunade's legendary strength; she could be a big problem, if he let her become one.

He then got sick of the trees hiding his enemy, so he created an incendiary with his creation jutsu, throwing it into the forest, and causing that section to go up in flames. Rinse and Repeat, before long, the surrounding area was on fire.

Sakura and Chiyo moved into the open, while Sasuke woke up and activated his Level 1 Juin, and with the flame like marks covering his body, he chased towards Chimera, Chidori in hand.

Chimera smiled beneath his mask, seeing his old teammate try such a useless jutsu on him, but he wasn't going to go easy on him this time. He formed a Fuuton: Rasengan, he would have used Fuuton: Rasenshuriken, but he didn't have the time to do it right. He waited, getting the timing right, and smashed it into Sasuke's jutsu, the Chidori was stronger than last time, so the Rasengan did less damage to Sasuke than it normally would have, but it still sent him flying rather rapidly, and he landed by the stirring Kakashi while he turned his attention to the other two, Sakura and the old woman.

He wasn't sure which one to go for, Sakura could be irritating if she had truly mastered Tsunade's technique, but he didn't have much of an idea as to the other woman's skills. He knew that she was Sasori's grandmother, Chiyo, and therefore would be somewhat skilled with the Kugutsu no jutsu, but aside from that he didn't know much about her.

He turned toward the two who were planning their own strategy as Kakashi woke up. Not wanting them to get their plan straight, he formed a Rasengan and fired it at them from long range.

The two dodged it as it went drilling through a few trees behind them, leaving a neat round hole in the wood. He watched as Chiyo stood back and Sakura ran straight at him, fist raised. He jumped quickly out of the way as Sakura's attack hit the ground and shattered the toughened earth, she hasn't mastered the technique, but she could use it to some degree apparently.

Not wanting to waste time, he formed a batch of Tracer Eyes and sent them towards both targets as he turned toward the recently awoken Kakashi.

He waited as the man rushed forward with a kunai in hand, only to be hit with a small explosive that Chimera made, pushing him back, and opening his guard, as Chimera rushed forward with his amazing speed and with a wave of his arm, nailed him with the technique at sixty percent, knocking him out for the duration of the battle, he turned his attention to his remaining opponents, two of which were still running from his creations while throwing kunai at them, hoping to make them detonate, and the other who was launching several 'Chidori Senbon' towards him after waking up and getting his bearings. He simply batted them aside, his hand coated in wind chakra to prevent injury.

Sasuke immediately did a few handsigns and launched a 'Katon: Karyuu Endan' toward him, as usual, he did the handsigns for this jutsu inside his sleeves to prevent copying and used his 'Ninpou: Dark Reflector no jutsu' and absorbed the dragon into it as Sasuke came rushing towards him, sword in hand. He released the dragon, not at Sasuke, but at Sakura who had destroyed all but two of the Tracer Eyes. Sakura saw the dragon coming and moved so that the Tracer Eyes would be hit by it if they followed he, which they did, but Sakura underestimated the explosive force behind the living bombs and she got blown into Chiyo who had just finished off the last of his living bombs, and they landed by the trees in a sprawl.

Then Sasuke reached him and aimed to run him through on his sword. Chimera moved to the side and sent out his normal invisible blade which cut straight through the sword, sending most of the blade clattering to the ground. Sasuke stared in shock, the sword was made by the Uchiha Clan, it was supposed to be indestructible, but here it was, cut in half, in his hand he held was the hilt and an inch and a half of the blade, once again he grew angry as he realized that even after three years, he was STILL not strong enough to defeat his teammate, and he leapt away to prepare a powerful jutsu, when he saw something he didn't expect.

Chimera had been focused on Sasuke, believing him to be the greatest threat left, and as a result of that and his massive hatred of him, Sasuke took up his entire attention. This is why he didn't see Sakura coming at him from behind without a sound. Normally she wouldn't be capable of that, but she was able to with Chiyo's puppet strings controlling her to some degree and Sakura managed to get the jump on him and land a hit to his torso, tearing him apart and sending him flying toward Sasuke, then collapsed, exhausted.

Sasuke saw this happening and saw Chimera get torn apart, but he knew he wasn't dead, but he knew that he could finish the job, he only noticed it because of his Sharingan, but he saw it. It was revealed to be in his stomach area, which Sakura tore open, and it was swiftly moving upwards, but Sasuke took the opportunity, he took a kunai and dashed forward and rammed it home. Kakashi woke, just in time to see Sasuke stab Chimera in his elusive heart.

Chimera knew that this battle was over, but he didn't intend to go quietly, he couldn't get to Sasuke, his left arm was in the forest somewhere and Sasuke was out of range of his right, but still he used it and sent the normal invisible blade towards one of the remaining three.

Sasuke stood, transfixed at what he had done, he had done it, he defeated Chimera! He had no idea what he did with his right arm before he died, but he didn't care, he had won! Then he heard Chiyo's cry of anguish and looked back, as did Kakashi from his spot at the bottom of one of the few not-burning trees.

She was crouched by the ground and the blade hit her at an angle, right below the nose, and it lopped off the top half of her skull, killing her instantly. They had won the battle, and defeated a member of Akatsuki, but Sakura was dead.

The other two joined Chiyo by the body of the aspiring medic, most of her head lying a few feet away, and they felt sadness, regret, and an amount of satisfaction that they had avenged her. Then Chiyo noticed something "Look!" she said, pointing toward Chimera's body, the other two saw what she was pointing at and they dashed towards Chimera's corpse. It was as they thought, the body was changing, the long blonde hair became short and blue, the mask dissolved into nothing, and the body gained a bit horizontally, and when the changes were all completed, instead of Chimera, there lay and entirely different person!

"W-what is this?" Sasuke asked, furious that Chimera had somehow survived. "I-I don't know, Sasuke, its one of their jutsus or something, it must be." But Chiyo recognized the new person "Y-Yuura! He was a Suna Jounin!" They both looked at the small old woman in shock.

"He must have been an Akatsuki spy then." Said Sasuke.

Chiyo replied that she didn't want to believe it; Yuura had served on the village Council for four years. This boded ill, for if Yuura truly was a spy, someone so high in rank, then Akatsuki would know Sunagakure inside and out.

Chiyo quickly wrote a message to Suna and sent it with an odd clockwork bird which she wound up and sent on its way. She then went over and sealed both parts of Sakura's body in a scroll. She merely said "For a proper burial, later." The other two nodded and together they headed off towards the Akatsuki's base in River Country.

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With Gai's team

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The strange blue-skinned Akatsuki member grinned and then threw his massive bandaged sword into the air, doing handseals at the same time, he then yelled "Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" and spewed a massive amount of water from his mouth, filling the large basin they were in a few feet from the rim as the four of Team Gai leapt upon the tops of the large hills that were the only islands.

Gai leapt towards him and entered a Taijutsu combo, only to jump away to dodge a sword swipe from him. They already had a plan, Gai would distract him, and the others would attack as soon as they saw an opening. Lee leapt towards him from the side, batons in hand, only to have them shatter as he used them to block a strike from the massive Samehada; he tossed the aside and waited for another opportunity to strike.

Neji yelled "Hakke Kushou!" as he prepared and launched a blast of chakra and air toward the enemy who blocked it with his sword, and got blown back, he regained his feet before long, only to see and rapidly block a projectile from Tenten, and he dived underwater as the sphere of iron and spikes exploded. "Dammit!" She yelled as she realized that her attack didn't work.

"Neji, where is he?" She asked as he activated the Byakugan, searching for the enemy and found him quickly "He's underwater right in front of us, and he's coming up." True to his word, the Akatsuki member soon rose from the drink, somewhat wet and said "You brats are getting kind of annoying."

Gai then jumped forward, and attacked the enemy yelling "Dynamic Action!" the Akatsuki member dodged a lot of the strikes, catching some of them on his sword, and then Gai aimed a kick at his head, and the blue-skinned man ducked backwards, only for Gai to wrap his leg around the hilt and pushing backward, separating him from his sword as he moved backward he yelled "NOW!" as his team jumped towards him, attacking from three directions.

He reacted quickly, a few quick handseals and he formed three Mizu Bunshin, one facing each teammate of Gai, which caught them in the air. He then performed several more handseals and yelled "Suirou no jutsu!" and the water making up the clones surrounded the three students, trapping them in almost impenetrable spheres of water.

"DAMMIT!" Gai yelled as he jumped forward and brought the stolen sword down upon its owner, only to have spikes come out of the hilt, impaling his hands and forcing him to drop the sword, before long, it came back through the water, right into the enemy's hand.

The enemy spoke "Hehehehe, my great sword, Samehada, will only allow me to wield it!"

Gai just watched and hoped his students would last long enough for him to defeat their captor. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of nunchaku.

'Those are…nunchaku?' Thought Tenten.

'Gai-Sensei using nunchaku, he must be one powerful enemy.' Thought Neji.

Gai quickly went through a bit of complex movements with his weapon, ending by snapping it in front of him with enough force to send a small wave through the water in front of him. Their enemy glanced downward as the water splashed against his sword, like a wave on a cliff. He looked at the spandex-clad ninja and said "This is going to be interesting."

He then ran toward him like a bat out of hell yelling "LET US BEGIN!"

Gai blocked his first strike, which sent out a large wave in the water around them, and they continued across the water-filled basin, each strike sending up a large burst of water into the air, that combined with the massive speed that they were moving at made it an impressive sight.

Gai blocked another strike on the chain of his weapon, and then sent a barrage of strikes toward the blue-skinned man, all of which were dodged with a smile.

It raged on for a few minutes, before Tenten put her hands to her mouth, she couldn't hold on for much longer.

This sight distracted Gai for a few seconds, which was long enough for his enemy to go through a short string of handseals and then yelled "Suiton: Suikoudan no jutsu!" and at that moment, a large shark came from the water behind him and rushed towards the caught off guard Gai, who blocked the attack with his weapon, but still feeling pain from it.

The Akatsuki member jumped forward, through the water of his technique, and slamming his sword onto the chain of Gai's weapon.

'His strength is superhuman!' Gai thought, and then he yelled "That's right you…!"

He was interrupted however "It's too late to remember now!" his opponent yelled as he punched him in the chest, sending him downward into the water below.

'Gai-Sensei… no way!' were the thoughts of the three students, trapped in spheres of water.

The blue-skinned man wasted no time, he put his sword under one arm as he knelt down and went through a few handseals and yelled "Suiton: Goshokuzame!" as he slammed his hand onto the water, causing five massive sharks to form from water and chakra.

The five sharks attacked Gai one by one, and then stuck all at once, blasting great amount of rock from the bottom of the basin, sending Gai flying through the water.

Then Tenet leaned forward and grasped at her mouth, exhaling a few bubbles.

'I'm out of time' Gai thought 'I only have one chance.'

He then crossed his hands in front of him and thought 'Hutchison Tonka, Chiron, Kaimon Kai' (Eight Celestial Gates, First Gate, Initial Gate, Release) and he surged with energy.

'Niimon, Kyuumon, Kai' (Second Gate, Rest Gate, Release) and he began to glow green

'Sanmon, Seimon' (Third Gate, Life Gate, Release) and his strength flowed outwards, boiling the water around him.

'Yonmon, Shoumon' (Fourth Gate, Wound Gate) and as that Gate was released, he started to glow yellow and his power grew as his skin turned bright red.

"Gomon, Tomon' (Fifth Gate, Limit Gate) as this was released his power flowed towards the surface, destroying the sharks and causing great spires of water to rise from the surface.

At that moment, Neji noticed his enemy's attention was elsewhere and took his chance. He activated his Byakugan and used the Hyuuga's second most powerful technique the 'Hakke: Rokujuuyonshou' and blasted through a weak spot in his prison, destroying the clone that had kept him captive as well as the clone that held Lee, freeing him.

Lee jumped at the third Mizu Bunshin and with a cry of "Konoha Dai Senpuu!" (Leaf Great Whirlwind) he destroyed Tenten's captor, freeing her from the possibly deadly prison and letting her fall unconscious into Neji's arms. The two then looked toward the battle, after making sure that their teammate was okay.

The circle of water that Kisame was kneeling on began to evaporate as he jumped off of it and on to one of the spires, watching as the water formed a huge circle around his opponent as he yelled "HACHIMON TONKOU, ROKUMON, KEIMON KAI!" (Eight Celestial Gates, Sixth Gate View Gate Release)

He then jumped from pillar of water to pillar of water as his opponent raced after him, then as the two were in the air, Gai took a strange stance in the air, eyes shining, skin burning red.

Gai began a large Taijutsu combination, with every punch sending a massive fireball towards his enemy, yelling "ASAKUJAKU!" (Morning Peacock) engulfing him in fire, and with a massive downward strike, sent him crashing into the water below, the massive heat engulfing his opponent evaporating the water on contact.

Gai returned to normal, after alighting on the ground, and walked towards his enemies' remains, his three teammates alongside him since Tenten woke up not long ago. When they reached the crater, the person inside of it was NOT the man they fought.

After a quick conversation, they were joined by Pakkun, who had been watching the fight and staying out of the way, and they continued on to the Akatsuki's base.

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Akatsuki Cave

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It was one hour since the fights began, and in the cave where they were sealing Gaara's Bijuu Chimera opened his eyes, and after a few minutes so did Kisame.

Pein asked "The technique has ended?" they both answered in the affirmative, and then Chimera asked "How much damage did **you do Kisame?"**

"I hurt them all at least a little and I badly wore out the Jounin."

Chimera responded "I hurt two moderately and one lightly**, I also killed one of them, the medical ninja,** but what do you expect when you only put five percent of your chakra into one of those things?"

Pein then intervened "Enough chatter, concentrate on the Sealing, we're entering the final stage." And as he said this, the eyes opened fully.

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1 hour later

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It was done. The sphere of red chakra was completed, and when it was the large sphere of chakra dissipated, allowing a dead Gaara to fall to the floor as another eye on the Statue received an iris.

Kakuzu said "It is done."

Deidara replied "It took us three days and three nights." While Sasori just sighed.

Hidan then said "Seriously, that took Jashin-damned forever!"

Chimera also chimed in "I have never said this before, and **I doubt that I will ever say it again, but I agree with Hidan, for once."**

Kisame then said "Its exhausting every time we do it isn't it?"

Pein then said "Nice work everybody, we're one step closer to our goal."

Deidara then said "Yeah, yeah, now then we have company that should be getting here at any minute."

As though he was psychic or something, a large booming sounded as someone pounded against the barrier.

"Speak of the devil" that was Zetsu.

Pein then took action "Deidara, Sasori, you are to take care of them."

The two in question nodded and then without a warning, six of the eight silhouettes vanished, leaving Pein and Chimera with the two that were actually there.

Before Chimera left he said to them "My real self is in River Country, so I might as well show up and help out**, I want my debt with Kakashi to be paid. I will be there soon, so save some for me."** And then he vanished too.

Pein went through several handseals and said "I expect to hear from you two soon." And then let the King of Hell Statue vanish in a cloud of black smoke, leaving the remaining two to deal with the intruders.

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Meanwhile, outside the cave

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Team Gai showed up outside of the cave, an enormous boulder in their way. Pakkun said "Gaara is right behind that stone." And then jumped from Lee's shoulder.

After looking at it for a few moments Gai said "Well, it looks like they have got a barrier set up." And then hit it with a powerful kick, only to be blocked by an invisible field of energy.

Then Team Kakashi showed up, with the elderly woman Pakkun mentioned, but without Sakura.

"Hah, you're late Kakashi!" Gai yelled, doing the 'Nice Guy Pose'.

Then Lee noticed something wrong "Hey, where's Sakura?"

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And the chapter is finished, how did you like it? Read Review and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	15. Chapter 15

By Royal Decree of His Highness, Artful Lounger, Ch

Welcome one and all to the world premier of Naruto the Chimera ch.15 Enjoy!

Disclaimer: They are in the first few chapters, if you want to see them, look there.

Enjoy the chapter

Note: SPRING BREAK HAS JUST BEGUN, HUZZAH!

Second Note: This story now has over 100 reviews. It feels nice to have my work appreciated, it really does. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far, and to those who haven't yet, please do so.

Third Note: Sorry it took so long to update, it is spring break and I have had to do a whole bunch of tedious shit.

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Last time

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As Gai rebounded from the barrier preventing entry to the cave, Team Kakashi, plus Chiyo, arrived, landing beside their comrades.

Gai was exuberant at seeing his rival, and he greeted them with a "Your late, Kakashi!" While performing the dreaded 'Nice Guy Pose'

Kakashi, aware of his 'rival's' eccentricity to a level that no one else could hope or want to achieve merely replied with a simple "Sorry, we had some trouble getting here."

At that point Lee noticed something wrong "Hey, where's Sakura?"

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Outside of Akatsuki's Cave, 7 minutes after Sealing

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The remaining three on Team Kakashi just looked at the ground, obviously uncomfortable.

Gai got the message before anyone else. "No… don't tell me…."

Kakashi finally decided to explain "We were trying to get here as quickly as possible, but we were ambushed by a member of Akatsuki. We fought as hard as we could and I was knocked out, leaving Sasuke, Sakura, and Chiyo here against him on their own. Sasuke engaged him, but he was taken out of the fight quickly. He then attacked the others. Sasuke woke up and attacked him again, while they got their bearings. When the Akatsuki member was distracted by Sasuke, Sakura, with Chiyo's help, snuck up on him and managed to land a hit, after that, Sasuke managed to land a killing blow, but before he died, he made one final attack which killed Sakura. Then the Akatsuki member's body shifted into someone else's, meaning that he's still alive."

At that point he stopped, his shoddy training methods for Sakura catching up to him.

Gai asked "Do you know which member it was?"

Kakashi nodded and said "It, it was Chimera." Shocking the entirety of Team Gai as well as Pakkun.

Lee asked "The same Chimera who was on your team?"

Seeing Kakashi nod he merely went silent, looking down at the ground.

Kakashi then asked "This is the entrance to Akatsuki's base?"

Gai nodded and explained "Yes, but we can't get in due to a strong barrier, you're better at this stuff than I am Kakashi so we were waiting for your team to get here."

Kakashi nodded then stepped forward with Chiyo as they began examining the barrier which so far seemed impenetrable.

Lee, Neji and Tenten were still shocked to hear that Chimera, from Team 7, was not only a member of Akatsuki, but had killed his own teammate. None of them, not even Neji, a jounin, could understand how anyone could possibly do that to a teammate, even if you left the village. Sasuke merely stood by, uncaring, hoping to see Chimera or Itachi and take his revenge. He didn't care in the slightest about Sakura's death.

After a minute or two of examination, Kakashi and Chiyo stepped back, and Kakashi asked her "It's a Gogyou Kekkai isn't it?" Chiyo nodded as Lee asked "Gogyou Kekkai?"

Kakashi nodded and explained the barrier to the young Chuunin "It's an impenetrable barrier of chakra and kinetic energy that is formed by placing and then passing chakra through five seals with the word 'Forbidden' written upon it. There's the first one there." At that point he raised his hand and pointed to a large piece of paper with the word forbidden upon it high up on the enormous rock blocking their path.

Tenten asked "And there are four more aside from that one?"

Kakashi nodded and said "Yes, we need to remove all five of the seals, at the same time, or else we would not be able to remove the barrier, we would have to wait for them to come out on their own, at a time of their own choosing, giving them a critical advantage. With people like those in the Akatsuki, an advantage like that almost guarantees victory for them so we NEED to remove the barrier and with any luck catch them by surprise."

Gai nodded and said to his student "Neji, I want you to use your Byakugan and find the other four seals."

Neji nodded and activated his Doujutsu. He then began to search the surrounding area for the remaining seals. A minute or so later he said "I've found them, there is one on a tree 350 meters South South-East of here, the second is on a rock 500 meters to the West, the third is in a forest 400 meters North-West of here and the final seal is on a cliff face 800 meters directly North of here."

Gai nodded and said "My team will go after the seals, we're the fastest. Tenten, you will go after the seal to the South South-East, Neji, you will go after the seal in the West Lee you will take the seal in the North-West, and I will take the seal in the North, I am positive that it will be the hardest to reach."

Kakashi asked "How will we communicate? We will need to take these seals off simultaneously."

Gai pulled off his bag and pulled out a piece of standard shinobi equipment. "These wireless radios have the sort of range we need." He then proceeded to give one to each of his team, Kakashi, and then donned one himself. After a quick incident with Lee's volume settings, and getting the channel straight, each of them proceeded off into a different direction.

After a while, Neji and Tenten had located their seals, and Gai had spotted his, as had Lee when he said "I'm double checking the plan, Each of us shall take up a position at one of the seals, and when Gai-Sensei gives the signal, each of us will remove the seals, as will Kakashi with the seal on the cave's entrance, thus removing the Gogyou Kekkai, then each of us will head back, barring complications, while Team Kakashi destroys the boulder blocking the entrance with a large amount of explosive notes." Gai was quick to reply "Exactly, then we will storm the cave and retrieve Kazekage-Sama and make our escape, preferably without engaging the enemy. If we're lucky we won't have to fight any more of the Akatsuki. I've just reached my seal."

Lee responded a few seconds later "As have I, Gai-Sensi."

Gai said over the radio "Okay, everyone is in position?" After getting the affirmatives from everyone who was supposed to be at a seal he then said "Okay then, on the count of three, remove your seal, One, Two, Three!"

At that moment Gai ripped off the seal and tossed it to the bottom of the cliff, Lee, Neji, and Tenten did the same at the same time, as did Kakashi.

When Kakashi ripped off the seal and removed the barrier, he dropped to the river below and signaled Chiyo, who proceeded to detonate a large amount of explosive notes strung up on numerous places upon the large rock before them, reducing it to rubble and revealing the cave's large entrance. Chiyo, Sasuke, and Kakashi immediately jumped inside the cave, ready to face their foes.

Gai asked Neji over the headset "Did we do it? Was the barrier removed?" Neji activated his Byakugan and after a moment of searching replied "Yes, Team Kakashi has successfully infiltrated the enemy's hideout." Then he noticed something odd, the grass was rising up in a man sized oval structure. He asked his team "Do any of you see something weird?"

Lee, by his seal, nodded and said "Yes, the moment I removed the seal a strange shadow appeared in the forest." Tenten and Gai also reported seeing similar phenomenon. Gai said "Well, it appears that the enemy thought ahead." As the four shapes shifted and changed color until before each member of team Gai stood a clone of themselves. As Gai prepared for battle he thought 'Well, this should be interesting.'

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At the cave

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At the cave, Kakashi, Chiyo, and Sasuke faced off against two Akatsuki members, Deidara and Chiyo's grandson, Sasori.

Deidara, from his chair that was Gaara's body looked upon the three before tem and smiled. "Wow, they must have sent these guys on short notice if all they sent for this guy was a weak borderline jounin, an old bag, and a weak chuunin, and here I thought we would have a bit of a fight on our hands, right Sasori no Danna?"

Sasori merely looked upon the old woman with the group and said nothing.

"So Sasori, these guys look weak, you can have them if you want, they aren't worthy of my art." As Deidara said this he began molding clay in the mouth on his left hand.

Sasori looked at his partner and merely said "It looks like you haven't yet learned the true meaning of art yet, Deidara."

Taking offence to this Deidara replied "My art is perfect! Art is something that blooms for a mere instant before withering away, never to be seen again. That and that alone is true art. It is much superior to your false attempts at creating true art."

Sasori merely glanced at the blond Akatsuki member and said "You call those pathetic explosions art? That's laughable, true art is something that surpasses the tests of time beautifully and gracefully, never losing it's luster and allure, allowing all to bask in it's glory for millennia, THAT IS TRUE ART!"

Deidara shook his head at his partner's 'foolishness' and said as he molded the clay in his hand into the shape he wanted "Sasori no Danna, I respect you as a fellow artist, but true art is explosions!" At that point he threw the newly formed clay bird into the air in front of him and formed a seal as the bird vanished in a puff of smoke that, when cleared, revealed a larger and animate version of the original sculpture.

He then said to him "They are far superior to your silly little puppet shows." At that moment Deidara jumped onto the newly formed bird's back in order to dodge a strike from his partner's metal tail and began to take off, as he ascended he said to the hunchback "These guys are too weak to be worth my time, so I'll leave them to you. Later Sasori no Danna!" And then left the cave Gaara in tow, flying right over the three arranged against them.

Sasuke, due to his massive ego and superiority complex, took great offence at being called weak and took off after the blond Akatsuki, ignoring the warnings of his sensei.

Kakashi was torn by a tough decision, he could leave Sasuke and help Chiyo against Sasori, but Sasuke would be at Deidara's mercy, but if he helped Sasuke, Chiyo would be on her own against her grandson. He made his decision in about one second. He yelled "Take care of him!" to the elderly woman as he took off after his only remaining pupil, putting Chiyo, alone, against the near legendary Akasuna no Sasori, S-Class criminal from Sunagakure no Sato, master of spies and information, the greatest puppet master since the original puppet master, Monzaemon himself. All the while going after Sasuke to face the most dangerous Iwagakure nukenin of all time, Deidara.

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30 miles from the cave entrance

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Chimera was doing a few quick stretches to loosen up his muscles after sitting on that damn rock for three days straight, very happy and looking forward to the rest of the day. He had killed Sakura, and today he could take out one of the two people he hated most, the only difficulty was choosing, Kakashi, or Sasuke? They both deserved a painful death as much as the other. After a few minutes of thinking he finally decided to go for Kakashi since he had been on his death list for a lot longer.

And as such, his decision made, he set off to the cave entrance to assist his fellow Akatsuki members and to kidnap Hatake Kakashi, the one person he hates more than anyone else.

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With Deidara

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He was irritated at first; he had left the three annoyances to Sasori so that he could work on his sculptures and what happened? Two of the three bastards against them came after him!

Needless to say, Deidara was pissed. That was until he got a good look at the black haired ones eyes. They were a bright scarlet with three black tomoe surrounding the pupil. The Sharingan.

At that point Deidara was ready to kill, this must be Itachi's little brother, Sasuke. As far as Deidara was concerned, this battle was anti-Sharingan training so that he would be able to defeat Itachi one day.

So far, he was leading them on a merry chase along the river, tossing back a few explosives to try and take one of the two out.

So far, it hadn't worked, and he was getting a bit pissed at the fact that after the battle with the Kazekage, he had very little explosive clay left.

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With Team Gai

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Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Gai had learned something very important, the clones of themselves had the exact same equipment and abilities that each of them had, making the battles rather difficult. They knew that they were needed by Team Kakashi but until they had defeated the clones, they couldn't do anything.

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With Sasori (no Danna)

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The entire battle had lasted less than ten minutes.

By the end of the battle Sasori, still encased in his lightly damaged puppet, Hiruko was putting on a clean Akatsuki cloak from a scroll and his grandmother, Chiyo, lay dead at his feet, his first two puppets strewn in various chunks and pieces around the cave.

Chiyo had tried to trick him by attaching chakra strings to Hiruko's tail while dodging poisonous senbon launched from the puppet's mouth.

He had seen and severed these threads soon after they were attached to the tail, but Chiyo didn't notice.

She then unveiled the first puppets that he had ever made, Mother and Father, but they were no match for Hiruko normally, however working together combined with Chiyo's skills and the upgrades made to them over the years had forced him to bring out Hiruko's newest weapon

It was a launcher built into Hiruko's right arm, barely noticeable unless you looked closely at the wrist as most of the equipment was subcutaneous on the puppet. It was designed so that the projectiles, which were specially made kunai, would be fired out of a thin slit near the wrist, this doesn't sound too impressive but given that the knives were launched at the speed of sound, they could do an amazing amount of damage to the target.

Chiyo underestimated the weapon, and as a result it shattered the puppet that she used to block it, which was Mother. Father followed soon afterwards, and then as Chiyo attempted to call upon the original ten masterpiece puppets, made by the original puppet master, Monzaemon himself, he struck her with the same attack, breaking several bones. She had no idea what hit her and she was dead before she hit the ground.

He had just turned toward the entrance when a new figure appeared there wearing an Akatsuki cloak and wearing a skull-like mask and a noose around his neck. Chimera had arrived.

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With Deidara

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He was getting worried, he was almost out of clay and he had dealt barely any damage to the two coming after him, the Sharingan was annoying as hell, it allowed them to see where his explosives were going to be and allowed them to get out of the way, and it was pissing him off.

His C1 explosives were ineffective and by this time, he didn't have enough clay to pull off a C2, nor the time to construct a C3, and it was the wrong kind of battlefield for a C4 to be very effective, as a result his only hope was that Sasori showed up to help him out, he hated to admit it, but all he could do at this point was run and hope to be able to trap one of them somehow, otherwise they would eventually catch him and he wasn't much of a close range fighter, he could hold his own, but he was no good against someone who relies on close combat like these two normally do, he was in trouble.

'Come on Sasori no Danna, hurry the hell up!' he thought as he chucked a few more birds at the two, making them dodge, but they didn't notice the third bird that he released behind his back, which careened into the valley wall, causing a large rock slide which, though avoided, one of the rocks got Itachi's brother in the left shoulder, almost dislocating it and making it unreliable in battle, but he was caught by the white haired one before he could fall into the water, dammit.

'Hurry up Sasori; I can only hold them off in this environment. Dammit, I'm almost out of clay, this is why I wanted him to take care of them all, I'm not ready for another fight.' Were the thoughts of Deidara as he noticed a nearby forest and made his way there, a plan to turn the tables forming in his mind.

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With Team Gai

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They were still struggling against the damn clones. They had all the same techniques and strategies that they did, making the battles extremely difficult, but they had a plan to take care of them and as a result, the tide was beginning to turn on the clones, with any luck, the four of them would be able to help Team Kakashi soon.

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With Sasori and Chimera

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They were currently going after Deidara, Sasuke, and most importantly Kakashi. Chimera was finally going to take that bastard down.

Despite that hunchback puppet that he was in, Sasori could move pretty damn quick, almost keeping pace with him, who would have guessed it?

They were making good time, the three of them couldn't have gotten too far in ten minutes, and surely enough, as they approached a small forest they could hear the trademark sounds of Deidara's C1 explosives coming from between the trees, they would be there very soon.

Sure enough they three of them were about a mile in the forest, apparently Kakashi could still use that ill-gotten Mangekyou Sharingan, it was weaker than Itachi's by far, but it was still annoying, he must have used it on Deidara's bird and forced him to land, he noticed the bird's head on a branch a few yards away, according to Sasori, Gaara was inside.

Then he saw them, Sasuke and Kakashi were launching jutsu of various elements at Deidara, who was dodging between the trees and launching his clay bombs at them, forcing them to scatter, although it currently looked like a stalemate, the three Akatsuki members knew that eventually Deidara would run out of clay and that would be that, they needed to intervene.

That was exactly what they did, Sasori used Hiruko's new launcher and blasted the ground near the feet of the two Konoha nin, shattering the earth beneath them and sending the two in different directions, their attention was immediately drawn to where the projectile was launched from and they saw Sasori, and then their gaze shifted and settled on Chimera and he loved the looks of anger and fear that graced their faces when they saw him, he adored it.

He took control of the situation immediately "Sasori, take Deidara and get out of here, **I can take care of these two on my own."** Sasori nodded and he and Deidara vanished, leaving Chimera, who was once Uzumaki Naruto against his former 'teammate' and former 'sensei' Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi.

He looked at the two, Kakashi, the one he hated the most, the one who attacked him so many years ago and in a way caused him to become who he was today, was tired, the use of the Mangekyou Sharingan combined with the weakness gradually caused by his curse weakening him exponentially. Sasuke, ever the Emo was pissed off as usual and looking for revenge that he would never achieve. Today he faced the two people he hated most in the entire world and he planned to take care of one of them for good.

Sasuke launched his favorite jutsu, the Gokakyuu no jutsu at him, hoping to end the battle quickly, but he should not have been so optimistic, he dodged it and with Sasuke in his tired state from using the Sharingan for so long, combined with the false battle with him before and the fight with Deidara, was knocked unconscious with a single blow to the stomach.

He then turned to Kakashi and he knew that the famed Copy Ninja was in no shape to fight, but he cared not, he was going to die, painfully.

He spoke to him "You know Kakashi, that today you are going to die, but I must tell you something before I do so." Kakashi looked at him oddly, wondering what he was talking about.

Chimera continued "Yes**, before I kill you, I must tell you**, thank you."

Kakashi looked at him, shocked and confused, wondering what he ever did to make this _thing_ thank him.

"You see Kakashi, it was the fact that you attacked me so long ago that I was able to become what I am today, if you hadn't who knows what kind of person I would be. Given my attitude and personality before you attacked me, I probably would have ended up weak as hell wearing an orange jumpsuit yelling out idiotic things, but your assault upon my person changed that, that is why I am thanking you. To be** honest, nothing can compare to my gratitude toward you, not even my hatred of you. I simply wanted to tell you** that, before it was too late, for there will not be much of a chance before long."

Then Chimera vanished and knocked Kakashi unconscious, he picked up the copy ninja and then vanished to where he sat for the extraction of the Ichibi, he was not going to let Kakashi have a painless end.

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And it is done, what do you guys thing? Oh and I hate to tell you guys this, but Kishimoto had outdone himself on the gayness in the manga again, I really didn't think that it was possible, you really want to know how? Okay I will tell you but you will regret it. He had Sasuke kill Itachi, while though gay to an astronomical level, is just icing on the cake compared to this next bit. Not only did he have Sasuke kill Itachi, but he had Sasuki receive the Mangekyou Sharingan! The gayness in the manga just reached new heights; the entire situation is a load of Grade-A bullshit!

Anyway, ranting aside, what did you guys think of the chapter? Sorry it took so long, but shit happens.

Read Review and Enjoy, until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	16. Chapter 16

Naruto the Chimera ch

Welcome one and all to Naruto the Chimera ch.16, as I am sure you are all wondering just how horribly I have Naruto(Chimera) kill that bastard Kakashi I will keep this short

Disclaimers: They are all in the first few chapters, lawyers look there and then leave.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter, because I sure as hell enjoyed writing it!

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Last time

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Chimera knocked out Sasuke and after thanking Kakashi for what he did to him and promising him a painful death, knocked him out and carried him off.

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With Sasuke

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It had been forty minutes since Sasuke was knocked out by his ex-teammate, Chimera, and he was still down when Team Gai showed up. It had taken some doing and a bit of excellent planning, but they finally managed to defeat the clones of themselves. Just barely but they got the job done.

They made their way to the forest where Neji said he saw Kakashi and Sasuke chase Deidara and before long they found the unconscious Uchiha prick.

They checked to make sure that he was not dead before they woke him up, it took a while to do so, he was hit really hard, but they eventually got him up and breathing.

He immediately looked around the clearing, wondering what happened and where he was, and most importantly, where Chimera was.

After a bit of convincing the hysterical Uchiha that he was among allies, sort of, they asked him what happened and more importantly where was Kakashi. They had already collected Chiyo's body from the cave, as well as the scroll with Sakura's remains. Tsunade was going to love it when she got the news that the pink-haired harpy was dead. She only trained her in the first place because of the Council, at least according to the rumors.

Sasuke took a moment to get his thoughts together and then explained how they had confronted the two Akatsuki members, and that the blond one, Deidara according to known information and the Bingo Book fled claiming that they weren't worth his time and how Chiyo had allegedly said to leave Sasori to her and told the two to go after the blonde, which they did.

They according to Sasuke, they managed to corner Deidara in this very clearing, and they would have eventually defeated him, but two other Akatsuki showed up, Sasori and much to Team Gai's surprise, Chimera.

According to Sasuke, he and Kakashi fought the three Akatsuki with him doing most of the work until Kakashi got knocked out and he finally succumbed to chakra exhaustion. Sasuke told them that Chimera must have taken Kakashi with him to try and figure out the Sharingan.

Gai asked Neji to try and find Chimera with his Byakugan, which he did, albeit with a bit of apprehension, but before long he found Chimera's trail and they were following Neji's lead.

Neji told them as they went "It's a good thing that Chimera is easy to track." Sasuke, hoping to find an advantage over his ex-teammate asked "What do you mean easy to track? I haven't seen any signs of anyone being here, despite the fact that Chimera was nearby not too long ago."

Neji elaborated "It isn't physical traces, when it comes to that Chimera is an undisputed master, no one can track him like that, or through smell because according to the Inuzuka trackers he doesn't have much of an identifiable scent, and he hides that very well. According to them he coats himself in smells native to where he's going to be, incense in temples, pollen in fields etc, but his chakra is easy to track. I don't know why but his chakra is different from anything I have ever seen and it's easily identifiable. But even then I would only normally be able to see it if I was very close to him, like within about 40-50 meters or so, what makes it easy to trace is the fact that he has so much of it."

Lee asked what he meant by that and Neji explained further "Chimera has so much chakra that his body simply cannot contain it all, I noticed this back during the Chuunin exams when I first faced him. It's to the point where he oozes chakra like a snail oozes slime, making it very easy to follow him as long as you can sense chakra to an amazing degree or have the Byakugan, otherwise this would be impossible. The trail only sticks around for 3-4 hours before it dissipates, but if you can find it, you have a beeline straight to him. This is a double edged sword because it means that we CAN find him, or where he has been recently, but only because he is so powerful, hang on I can see something coming up ahead."

Sure enough they soon approached a medium sized clearing and although they didn't find any trace of Chimera's presence, other than Neji's chakra trail that led further into the woods, but they found Kakashi, or to be more specific, his remains.

He was on his back and shirtless, bound by chains from the ground which held his limbs. Torn flesh and dark savage bruises, some in the clear outline of chains lapped around from his back. His hands, feet, arms and legs were grotesquely swollen, they had been broken so badly and in so many places that they resembled sausages more than human limbs. Sasuke noticed that his finger and toe nails had been ripped out. His belly and chest had been viciously cut into, an array of long straight, deep cuts ran vertically from his shoulders to just above his pelvis and horizontal cuts were laced in with them. In total, it looked like a morbid grid pattern had been sliced into him and the five of them got the horrible feeling from looking at it that if they swept their hands across it, they would send chunks of flesh splattering to the ground. His face was left mostly untouched, the only damage to it was the fact that both eyes had been gouged out, other than that the only thing that marred his face was his expression of utmost horror and agony. They found what had killed him and it was a VERY thin cut across his throat. It was thin enough so that it would take time to bleed out, causing him to die in great pain.

Most of the wounds were recent. Chimera must have been there, torturing him only a few minutes before, but had left that cut on his throat to make him bleed out slowly and then made his escape when he sensed Team Gai approaching. They had just missed him, but it was far too late.

Sasuke was in shock, they all were. Chimera had managed to do such enormous and painful damage to a person that he had in his custody for less than an hour. Who knew what horrid things he could do if he was given a day or two to work. No one wanted to think about it. They simply sealed Kakashi's horribly mauled body into a scroll and put it with the others. One scroll held Kakashi, another held Sakura's beheaded frame, another held Chiyo's shattered corpse, and the fourth held Gaara's body. The body of the Godaime Kazekage. They returned to Suna, their mission a failure.

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Konoha, 4 days later

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It was the day of funerals in Konoha, the funerals of Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi, as expected Tsunade was sad about Sakura's death, but she was at the same time happy to be rid of the Uchiha loving bitch. She didn't give a damn unless it had something to do with Sasuke. Apparently however, it had finally come to bite her in the ass. Same goes for Kakashi, all of his disloyalty to his sensei, unjust fear and hatred, and overall bad karma had finally taken its toll upon the jounin, as it had been in his nightmares for the last three years.

There wasn't much weeping for either of them, the only ones who shed tears were Ino, because of her friends sudden departure from the mortal plane and Sakura's mother, for the loss of her daughter. Gai shed a few tears for his 'eternal rival', everyone was prepared for this, with Kakashi weakened as he was it was only a matter of time before the dice came up snake eyes for the Copy Ninja. Apologies and oaths of revenge were made upon the two graves, and the mourners left. The two were simply a drop in the bucket to the thousands that Chimera had slaughtered over the years; people were by no means new to this occurrence.

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Two weeks later

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Very little had happened over two weeks. Sasuke, as the last remaining member of Team 7 was placed on Kurenai's team with Shino and Hinata, making Team 8 whole again for the first time since Kiba's death at Chimera's hands and officially demolishing Team 7 forever.

Sunagakre had chosen its Rokudaime Kazekage and was slowly recovering from the debilitating Akatsuki attack. Everyone was hoping that Temari did a better job of being Kazekage than her late younger brother. Some news had made its way into the world about Chimera however. Apparently he had struck again, at Kirigakure this time. News circulated around the world at this latest deed, Chimera had killed the Sandaime Mizukage, bringing his 'Kage count' as it were up to four. The Sandaime Mizukage, much to Kiri's delight as he was the one who organized the bloodline massacres, the Yondaime Raikage, the Godaime Tsuchikage, and the Shodaime 'Otokage' Orochimaru, along with bucketloads of Gennin, Chuunin, and Jounin of all types added to the mix, and his bounty was treated accordingly.

It was official, with the most recent kill of the Mizukage, Chimera was officially the most wanted man on the planet, having the highest bounty since the one Iwagakure placed upon the head of the Yondaime Hokage, and Sasuke was furious and frightened at it at the same time, as were all of the 'Rookie 12' as they were known as back then, the survivors of them at least, as well as the remaining Senseis Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma. Each of them was afraid of facing the same fate as Kakashi. They were all in the same boat; the only ones who were still alive that could challenge the masked Akatsuki were Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Sannin, and the other members of Akatsuki. Everyone else was as good as dead should they see him, and they knew it. It they met Chimera, short of some extreme luck, skill, and teamwork, they would die, there was little doubt.

Tsunade came up with a bit of an idea though, she sent twenty teams of four on a permanent assignment to track down, capture, or kill any and all Akatsuki members they encountered in Hi no Kuni. It would be quite some time before they heard any more from Akatsuki, and by the time they did, they would already be on the move.

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Kumogakure, outskirts

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It had taken some doing, but the Nibi Jinchuuriki, Nii Yugito, was captured. She had a powerful ability to literally transform into her Bijuu, the Nibi, which gave the two Akatsuki members a bit of difficulty but in the end she was knocked unconscious and hung up on a wall thanks to a kunai pierced through her wrists while one of the two Akatsuki members laid on the ground with a spike in his chest while the other looked on impatiently.

The larger figure said to his partner lying on the ground "It's been thirty minutes already, aren't you done yet?" The stabbed man looked up at the enormous Akatsuki and said "Shut up! The ceremony must remain uninterrupted, it's very important to offer my prayers to Jashin-Sama before and after battle."

The other figure replied "Honestly Hidan, your stupid prayers are always slowing us down can't you shorten them or something?"

The newly dubbed Hidan started to get pissed off t his partner "Hey, my prayers aren't slowing us down nearly as much as your side-trips to acquire bounties; it's YOUR fault that we are always so slow on the move, not mine Kakuzu. And what do you mean 'shorten them'? That would be sacrilege, pure and simple and I won't have any of it. I don't want MY soul to burn in hell like yours will thank you very much."

Then the religious Akatsuki member laid down again and continued his prayers to his god as another figure rose out of ground nearby. Zetsu asked what the hell was going on and after getting a partially acceptable answer informed them that they were to accumulate bounties while he took care of the Nibi Jinchuuriki. Getting nods from them both, the plant like man took the unconscious from of Nii Yugito from the wall and sank into it, leaving just as he came.

Hidan rose and plucked the staff from his chest as he replaced his cloak and said to his partner "Let's go." They then left in a Southern direction, towards Hi no Kuni.

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And that's that, sorry the chapter is so short, but I wanted to show you guys what happened to Kakashi. Anyway, Misashi Kishimoto is gay, Sasuke should have died against Deidara before he used that Suicide technique and tried to take Sasuke with him, and I will see you in the next installment. Until then Read, Review, and Enjoy.

Sincerely yours,

Artful Lounger


	17. Chapter 17

Ch

Greetings to all of you reading and watching this. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one (unlikely because of Kakashi's torturous death. Take that you hypocritical one-eyed bastard, HAH!), and I apologize for ch.16's shortness, but you always get something like that at the end of an arc, savvy?

Anyways, read the chapter, and enjoy it, I don't think that I've ever had a hobby this much fun, thanks to you all who reviewed/favorited/and or alerted this story so far, you guys make it all worthwhile.

Right, thankful/cheesy Oscar-speech rip-off aside, enjoy the chapter.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Chiyo died, Kakashi's mangled body was found, and nobody gave two shits. Sas-gay made up a story to tell people so that he DOESN'T sound like an enormous prick/douche bag, which is damn near impossible, Hidan and Kakuzu captured Yugito (Sad, but necessary, a true shame I kind of like her) and proceeded towards Hi no Kuni. Sasuke got put on Team 8 under Kurenai to replace the late Kiba, and now we get on to the story.

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The Temple of Fire

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Two Akatsuki members approached the grand edifice to the element that gave the country its name and one of the country's greatest strongholds.

Of the two, one had a deeply scratched Taki (Waterfall) headband and a mask covering all but his eyes, and was rather tall. The other figure was an albino, alabaster skin, light pink eyes and white hair slicked back, he carried a three bladed scythe on his back, and around his neck was a scratched headband from an unknown village and a beaded necklace sporting a triangle within a circle, the symbol of Jashin. They both wore the cloaks of Akatsuki. The large, masked one had a ring upon his left middle finger that had the symbol for 'Southern Star' upon it and his partner had a similar ring, except that it was on his left index finger and had the symbol for 'three' engraved on it.

The two stood before massive gates, intent on heir goal as the larger one's skin turned dark and he slammed his fist into the gates, blowing them inward and as soon as they did an alarm rang out, bringing everyone at the temple to prepare themselves to combat this threat.

A young monk, barely an acolyte, rushed into the altar to bring news to the master of the temple. "Chiriku-Sama!" he yelled.

The man known as Chiriku looked toward the young priest and asked what was happening.

The acolyte paused and caught his breath before delivering his message. "Sir, two people have broken into the temple and they bear the cloaks of the Akatsuki."

Chiriku's eyes narrowed, he had heard of the mysterious organization, and ordered the monk to go, which he gladly did, as he marched toward the main gate of the temple.

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Hidan and Kakuzu POV

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Hidan and Kakuzu walked over the fallen gates, as they did a large amount of monks scurried about, borderline panicking. Hidan said dryly "It doesn't look like anyone here would be willing to convert to the righteous faith of Jashin, such a shame." As they watched, a large amount of the monks formed up at the top of the main stairs and a single figure stood on his own at the bottom of the large staircase, wearing the waistband of the twelve ninja guardsmen which protected the daimyo should he require assistance and protection, this man was their target.

Hidan took one look at the guy and immediately got his number "Another High-and-Mighty to deal with, eh?"

Kakuzu looked at his highly religious partner and said "His bounty is high and mighty too, an entire thirty million."

Hidan looked at his partner over the high collar of his Akatsuki cloak and said "Hey you're not looking to make a haul here are you? Kill a monk for something like that and you burn in hell you know."

His partner glanced back at him and said "They say that money makes the underworld go 'round too, I can't say that I would complain."

The bald monk yelled toward them "I know not of your purpose, but return to whence you came!"

Hidan looked him straight in the eye and said "I guess that means that you don't kill without reason, but you see, my religion's entire purpose is built on killing.

His partner then spoke in his normal deep voice "This is the famous shinobi monastery of the Fire Country, the Temple of Fire. The monks here all have command of a power known as 'Theurgical Enlightenment', and that guy there is particularly dangerous, as he was selected as one of the twelve shinobi guardsmen who escort the fire Daimyo.

Hidan closed his eyes and said "The twelve Shinobi Guardsmen? Is he really all that powerful?"

Kakuzu replied "The insignia of the fire country on his waistband is proof; if you let your guard down… you're dead."

Hidan yelled to his partner "I've said it before, there's no need to tell me that Kakuzu!" as they both rushed the waiting monks.

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Konoha

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Kurenai and the newly reformed Team 8 were training; they were a newly formed team so they were trying their hardest to get their teamwork up to par with Teams 9 and 10, which had much more time to practice than they did. Team 8 hadn't existed as a four man squad since Kiba was murdered by Chimera during the Chuunin Exam prelims before he left the village.

Not that they were making much progress, Sasuke's arrogance, pride, and lust for power given to him on a silver platter made any sort of teamwork damn near impossible. This just added more to the red-eyed jounin's frustration, which was reaching higher levels since she dumped Asuma for his smoking almost a year ago, though hooking up with Anko** (1)** helped alleviate this a great deal, that combined with fear of the Akatsuki and the lives of her teammates which, sadly, included the Uchiha now made her life a bit more difficult and it was all incredibly annoying for her.

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Hokage's grave

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Sarutobi Asuma was paying his usual respects to his father, Sarutobi Sasuke's, grave. He recalled when the Uchiha learned the Sandaime Hokage's first name. He had the arrogance and lack of sense to actually believe that the Hokage was named after _him_ and not the other way around which got a private laugh out of just about everyone at the time, the only exceptions were Kakashi, his main fangirl Sakura, and the Council who actually _encouraged_ it all, it was laughable, and the Council asked him why he laughed when the Council told the Jounin and the Hokage its plan of grooming the Uchiha to become Rokudaime Hokage. But regardless of any humor going through his mind he still paid his respects to his deceased father without laughing, and then continued about his business, laughing his ass off along the way at the thought of HIM becoming Hokage.

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Temple of Fire

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Kakuzu watched with limited patience as his partner lay on the ground inside of a triangle surrounded by a circle with a spike in his chest among the ruins of the Temple of Fire.

Hidan spoke to his cloth masked partner and said "Well, there's barely anything of interest here, after my prayers are finished, let's move on."

He looked up in surprise as his partner rummaged around in a pile of shattered wood and found what he had been apparently looking for since the battle ended, Chiriku's body, and slung it over his back with one arm and said "No, we need to turn this body in for its bounty."

Hidan was a bit surprised and said "Hey… do you mind if I get pissed at you for once, seriously?"

His greedy partner merely said "We need to go and exchange this corpse for its bounty, money comes first."

From behind the nearby rubble, a monk watched with caution, well aware of the enemy's power that had been enough to conquer the temple of fire on their own and vanished, intending to inform Konoha of this most recent development.

Kakuzu told his partner "The Fire Country is quite big, we're taking things in stride as we search for my Jinchuuriki, I mean it's kind of surprising at how hard it can be to find the Gobi."

Hidan then proceeded to get pissed at his partner "God damn it all, you do realize that it's YOU holding us up you know, not me right?! OUCH!" He yelled as he yanked the spike out of his chest in a particularly vicious movement.

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Konoha, training grounds

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Team 8 was still training, with no progress made thanks to that damn Uchiha mucking it all up. Kurenai started day dreaming of Anko in her boredom and irritation, trying to calm herself.

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Nara clan house

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Shikamaru and Asuma were playing Chess **(2)** on Shikamaru's back porch.

As they played, Asuma moved a piece forward, a rook.

Shikamaru glanced at that and said "That's odd, you're attacking all of a sudden, relax, we have got plenty of time."

Asuma merely grinned at his student and said "It's the act of first invading the enemy territory sometimes you have to make moves like this. To protect the 'King' it's like they say 'sometimes you have to make sacrifices'."

Shikamaru, seeing his sensei grow serious all of a sudden grew a bit concerned and asked "Did something happen?"

Asuma merely looked at the board and shook his head, in an attempt to put his student at ease he said "No, I'm just beginning to understand the importance of the 'King' and I owe it to Chimera in a way, he's been attacking them for the last three years and only now do I see the significance."

Shikamaru, not understanding what his smoking sensei was talking about asked "Well if the King is taken than it's the end of the game."

Asuma shook his head and tried to explain to his student "If I were to liken the Chess Pieces to Shinobi than you would be a knight I think. Its unique way of moving is a lot like your flexible way of thinking."

Shikamaru nodded and moved a pawn forward and asked "So, if I'm a knight than what would you be sensei?" Asuma chuckled under his breath and moved a pawn forward as he said "I'm nothing, I am just a--."

He was cut off as his student interrupted and said "A sacrificial piece, right?"

Asuma nodded and said "So, going by that do you know who would be the 'King'?"

Shikamaru looked up at Asuma and said "That would be the Hokage, right?"

Asuma moved another pawn forward and said "Until about a year and a half ago, I thought that too, but now I realize that that is not the case. The Hokage is the Queen, the most powerful piece on the board but overall is expendable and replaceable, not the King who, if lost, can never be replaced and signals the irreversible end."

Shikamaru, looking for a laugh asked "So, what's Sasuke? If we asked him or the Council, they would say the King within a heartbeat."

Asuma chuckled at that and said "No, he's a pawn. Shortsighted and overall, weak and doomed to fail."

They both got a laugh out of that, and then continued the game, both of them smiling.

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Random lake in some random place

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Deidara and Sasori were standing on the surface of the lake, looking some turtle-like creature with three tails in the face.

Sasori sighed and said "So, this is the Sanbi, eh?"

Said turtle monster thing reacted to its name and dived underwater, going for Sasori.

Sasori ran from the beast, not used to underwater foes, but still prepared for them. He didn't use Hiruko during this battle because of the potential need to use ninjutsu other than the 'Kugutsu no Jutsu'.

Since Deidara was in the air on one of his birds and Sasori's shoes had rubber soles, he was free to do a few rapid handseals and launch a 'Raiton: Rairyuudan no jutsu' at the lake's water, which electrified the large turtle demon.

At the same time, Deidara molded his clay into a fish and sent it underwater, detonating it when it got close to the head of the stunned demon. Since it was of the Earth element and the Sanbi was a being of Water, it was highly effective, and just like that, the beast was out cold.

It took a bit of doing, but they eventually managed to get some ropes wrapped around the beast and had them hauled by two of Deidara's clay birds, each Akatsuki member riding one. As they moved the great demon towards the intended place to seal it, Sasori removed his puppet Hiruko, newly repaired, from a scroll and got in, taking the form that most were familiar with when it came to Sasori and they spent the rest of the journey in silence, with the occasional argument about art on the way.

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(1) I am officially against ANY official pairing made by Misashi Kishimoto, so as a result I screwed with the normal AsuKure pairing, deal with it

(2) I know in the real thing, they used Shougi, but I don't know how it works so I used Chess instead.

AN: My readers, do me a favor and check out my profile, I have a few challenges issued that I would like people to considered, please follow all stipulations listed there. Thank you in advance.

Right, that's another chapter down, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you guys appreciate me sitting in this chair, typing 'till my ass goes numb (not kidding, that has happened while writing this story)

Anyway, Read, Review and Enjoy!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	18. NOT Ch18

Greetings one and all, this is NOT chapter 18, since it is the start of a new arc in this story and a few people PM'd me for s

Greetings one and all, this is NOT chapter 18, since it is the start of a new arc in this story and a few people PM'd me for something like this, I decided to indulge them, to those that requested this, you owe me, you know who you are.

This is a small rundown on all of Chimera's abilities and a hint on things to come for his character.

Known name: Chimera

Real name: Uzumaki Naruto

Birthplace: Konohagakure no Sato

Age: 16

Normal Clothing: Wears a pair of black pants of a tough cloth material and normal shinobi sandals, over that the normal Akatsuki cloak and hat, wears a noose of fine, thin rope around his neck, and wears a mask of the upper half of a human skull with three small horns on the forehead, the teeth stretched to cover his lower face.

Height: 5ft, 11in.

Appearance: Very pale skin, not like Orochimaru, whose skin is white, but a pale grey. Very thin and withered, like a few weeks old corpse. Blonde hair that is all held in one long ponytail reaching the back of his knees (Like Xigbar from KH2) Face is very thin, left side of his face is normal with a bright blue eye. The other side is seared black and twisted due to Kakashi's Raikiri at a young age. His right eye was ruined in this attack but was replaced during his trip to hell with the eye of a demon that has no pupil or iris but is simply a blood red colored orb, which gives him to have normal human sight. Despite his appearance he is almost as physically strong as Hoshkigaki Kisame.

Oddities of his right eye: Since it is the eye of a demon, it has a few special properties, one of these abilities is to break any genjutsu cast upon him, except possibly Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but this is untested. It also allows him flawless night sight, but only in his right eye. The main ability of the eye is the ability to accurately estimate his opponent's threat level toward him. It would delve into his opponent's mind, subconsciously and read anything and everything that his opponent is capable of and everything he knows, and then compares his abilities to Chimera's, and then makes the decision on how dangerous the individual is to Chimera. If he is able to kill him, if he will be able to effortlessly defeat him and so on and tells that to Chimera. Chimera does not obtain any information from the eye except for the overall threat level. It has a bit of a mind of its own, so although the eye knows everything his opponent is capable of, Chimera does not, he only knows how tough of a fight he's in for.

Biography thus far: Was born as the junchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and was treated as most Jinchuuriki are, hated by anyone and everyone. At age 5 he was mauled by Hatake Kakashi and was badly injured. Conspiring with the Kyuubi he escaped the hospital and opened a portal to Hell and escaped there for 8 years, during which he trained and made use of a few gifts that Kyuubi gave him. The first was the ability to devour the souls and weakened demons of hell, gaining their abilities and some of their experience. Some known devoured beings are Karasu and Elder Toguro from Yu Yu Hakusho, Amshel from Blood Plus and many others, mostly old ninjas, adding their abilities and experience from when they were alive. He came across the truth that there are many worlds and that Hell opens to all of them. Returned to Konoha on his 13th birthday and joined the Konoha Gennin squads, later passed the Chuunin exams and was banished after harming Uchiha Sasuke, when he killed Orochimaru and joined the Akatsuki where he gave them the removed Kyuubi in exchange for membership where his mission was and is to kill as many Jounin and Gennin from the various hidden villages as possible, weakening them for Akatsuki's eventual conquest.

Character Traits: Cares not for the sanctity of human life, and no matter what he does or who he takes orders from, is ALWAYS following his own agenda, whatever it may be. The only things that he truly holds dear are the belief that one should die as one lived as a warrior, a coward etc. The other is a deep sense of debt and obligation. If he believes that someone owes him something, or he owes someone else then he will make sure that the debt is paid.

Kyuubi's three gifts:

1, the ability to devour and assimilate souls and some body parts, causing him to no longer be exactly human, but a mélange of various creatures as well as the benefits listed above.

2, an affinity for all 5 elements, but he is unable to mix them to create things like ice or wood.

3. I'm not telling you hear, but I will give you guys a few hints. It's something from Yu Yu Hakusho, the character that has this ability shows up after the Dark Tournament, and there is an obscure reference to this character's name somewhere in the chapter that he joins the Akatsuki, I won't say where. Good luck figuring it out, but I will tell you guys eventually.

Known jutsu and techniques:

His favorite moves are these four techniques:

1. Unnamed, an invisible blast of force that can blow a person back, or crush them completely.

2. Unnamed, he makes a quick slashing movement with his arm, causing an invisible blade to slice into his enemies.

3. Dark Reflector no jutsu, a powerful shield of purple chakra that absorbs and reflects any mid-to-long range elemental ninjutsu, regardless of strength.

4. Unnamed, a technique in which he condenses his chakra into anything he needs at the time, he usually uses this to craft ninja tools and living explosives.

He also knows many elemental ninjutsu and a few mid-to-high level genjutsu, his techniques make Taijutsu almost suicidal.

Knows the Rasengan and has made the following variants.

An elemental Rasengan of each element, making it more powerful and giving an edge against the element that it is strong against.

An Elemental Rasenshuriken of each element, incredibly powerful and can annihilate all but the most powerful of elemental ninjutsu it comes in contact with, as long at it is strong against that element, making it a somewhat useful defense as well as offense.

Rasengan Dangan, a long range Rasengan which can drill through almost anything.

Gogyou Rasenshuriken: Rasenshuriken using all five elements compressed into the sphere, as beautiful as it is powerful, it creates a crater large enough for Gamabunta and a few equally sized lady friends to use as a hot spring if filled with water, strongest jutsu he knows and is only used as a last resort or if he has a personal vendetta against the person in question.

Known as an S-Class criminal throughout the Shinobi Nations with a bounty totaling 100 million Ryou, the largest bounty since Konoha's Yondaime Hokage.

Overall strength level: High Kage level, flee on sight.

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I hope this answers any questions that you guys have, I hope to have the real chapter 18 up soon. Check out my challenges to fanfiction writers and feel free to give them a shot, just PM me first okay?

Until the next real chapter,

Artful Lounger


	19. REAL Chapter 18

Hey, I am back and ready to write ch

Hey, I am back and ready to write ch.18 (The real one) of Naruto the Chimera, and here it is. But before I begin, I shall give you four pieces of information.

Note 1: Misashi Kishimoto, with the latest Naruto Chapter (number 398), is trying to rapidly murder Itachi's badass-ness. Apparently, he killed the Uchiha Clan on the orders of the Sandaime, Koharu, Homura, and Danzou. A few fanfics that I have read have come true in Canon, it's fucking amazing. But still gay what with Kishimoto trying to kill the image of one of his best characters. I mean, come on he already killed him for god's sake, at least let him keep his awesome image, dammit.

Note 2: The Shodaime Hokage's name in canon is actually Senju Hashirama, just a bit of trivia.

Note 3: Kyuubi's third gift is the 'Power of Taboo' from Yu Yu Hakusho, I normally wouldn't tell you guys this, but one reviewer by the name of Kamikaze-dono guessed it right in a review so I feel obligated to tell you all that he was right. I won't explain what it does here, I will explain how Chimera got it in the story at some point, but if you want to know what it does, check out Google or something.

Note 4: Sorry that the last two chapters were so short, (Chapters 16 and 17) they looked longer on the word processor, what can I say?

Okay, now that that shit is out of the way, let's get started.

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Summary of last chapter

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Hidan and Kakuzu decimated the Temple of Fire and left with the head monk's, Chiriku's, body in tow.

The new Team 8 has made little progress due to a certain Emo-prick of an Uchiha.

Shikamaru and Asuma make fun of Sasuke during a game.

Sasori and Deidara captured the Sanbi, and those are the main points.

Right, now then on with the chapter, for better of for worse.

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Chimera was in some forest in Hi no Kuni, basically just relaxing, he was still basking in the afterglow of the immense joy he got from torturing Kakashi to death, he really deserved it. 'I was right.' He thought 'It really did feel a lot better since I waited for it, but it was definitely worth the wait.'

Then he got up and decided that since he killed the Mizukage, he had gotten a bit lazy and decided to work hard today. He looked at a map he carried with him and discovered that there was a medium sized village nearby by the name of Taihaku that supplied Konoha with a good deal of its food supplies. He decided to pay the unfortunate town a little visit.

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Konoha, the Hokage's office

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Tsunade was currently giving a mission to a modified Team 10, consisting of Shikamaru, Izumo, Kotetsu** (1)**, and its leader Asuma.

They had recently received information that the Temple of Fire had been attacked and destroyed by the Akatsuki. The only reason that they knew this was because one of the acolytes managed to escape. When she told them this, Asuma immediately told her what he thought.

"That can't be right, the head monk of the Temple was Chiriku, one of the 12 ninja guardsmen, the very best. There's no way in Hell that he and all of the monks there got slaughtered by two people, even if they are Akatsuki members."

Tsunade simply gave him a look that screamed 'Shut the fuck up, I know what I am talking about you ignorant jounin' and proceeded to tell him that, despite Asuma's disbelief, every word was true. Then she gave them their mission.

"Your mission is to join the 19 remaining teams in their search for the two Akatsuki members and either capture or kill them; you are to search and patrol this area here, and to keep in touch with the other squads." She said as she unrolled a map of the country and outlined a certain region.

She looked at each of the four of them, one by one as she said "This mission is S-Ranked, so whatever you do, don't take any unnecessary risks and do not be afraid to call for backup. Dismissed!" And on the last word, the four vanished.

Tsunade then picked up another file, a request for a B-Rank mission. She looked over the parameters and decided to give the mission to the new and 'improved' Team 8, which had apparently been having teamwork problems as of late. With any luck the mission would bring the Uchiha closer to the other team members. 'Okay.' Tsunade thought. 'Enough jokes, but this mission still needs to get done so….'

Tsunade called to her secretary to get Team 8 into her office as soon as possible. And, sure enough, within 5 minutes the four of them were in her office. Three of them stood at rapt attention, ready for the Hokage's orders. The fourth meanwhile merely looked bored/emo/broody and showed no respect whatsoever to the woman, clearly believing that he was superior to everyone else, Tsunade included** (2).**

Tsunade started off with the truth about why she had called them, their most recent mission.

"It is an A-Rank protection mission." She explained. "You are to protect the village known as Taihaku from bandits and possibly ninja. This village is a major farming village and it supplies Konoha with a large percentage of its produce so it could be targeted by our enemies. You are to guard the village for a total of one year and then return to Konoha, you will be working with two other teams during this time, understood?"

The two kunoichi and the young bug master of the group gave clear answers that they had, while the black-haired, eye patched Uchiha merely gave a grunt of irritation/arrogance/angst without any respect behind the gesture. The four of them vanished to prepare for their first long-term mission as a team together as Tsunade dismissed them.

'Well that works out fine.' Tsunade thought. 'I don't have to worry about the stuck-up Uchiha for a YEAR! This calls for a celebratory sake binge.' And with that the Godaime snuck out her own window, to get by Shizune, and went to go find the nearest bar, then drink herself under the table five times over.

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With the modified Team 10

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After several hours of high speed traveling the three Chuunin, and single Jounin group finally arrived at their destination of the Temple of Fire. Or rather, what was left of it. The entire front area had been reduced to driftwood which was currently being combed for the bodies of the fallen by the acolytes and old priests who had been hiding during the attack. They were almost done and as they looked over to a nearby field, they saw that there were over one hundred graves so far.

They moved over to the monk that seemed to be in charge and got the whole story from him. Apparently the Akatsuki had attacked without provocation and had slaughtered the entire warrior population among the monks, including Chiriku. As they heard this, Asuma gazed out over the field where the fallen were put to rest and asked "Which one of those is Chiriku's?"

The old monk shook his head and said "Chiriku-sama's body has yet to be found. We have searched most of the debris, but there hasn't been any sign of him yet.

At that point Shikamaru came up with an idea and told Asuma. The man went wide-eyed as he told Izumo to check the information that they had on the mission for any possibility of Shikamaru's idea being right.

Izumo soon found what he was looking for. "It looks like Shikamaru is right, sempai. There is indeed a bounty being paid by a few organizations for any member of the 12 Shinobi Guardsmen, and Chiriku is on it with a bounty of 30 million Ryou."

Asuma cursed and told Izumo to check the list of exchange points for those bounties.

Izumo found the necessary information before too long and apparently the closest exchange point is just a few hours away.

Asuma nodded as he sent a message to all of the other 19 squads throughout the country to inform them of what they found and where the other four exchange points were. Then the four of them set off in a North-West direction, clearly hoping to catch the mysterious pair soon.

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Hidan & Kakuzu POV

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The Akatsuki pair had made it to the exchange point for Kakuzu's bounty… and it was in a fucking men's public bathroom that smelled like piss and worse which Hidan did not mind telling his partner.

"Who's fucking idea was it to put a Jashin damned bounty house in a fucking bathroom?!" Yelled the resident Jashin Priest, Hidan.

He wasn't quite satisfied with that as he kept ranting.

"Seriously, who was the bright spark who designed this dump? A fucking giant dung beetle or something? I mean come the fuck on, I understand the need for secrecy but this is putting it a bit over board. The least they could do was make it not smell so bad for fuck's sake." At this point Kakuzu finally got the secret door in the wall open into the bounty house and they stepped inside. Didn't help the smell though.

They were greeted by a bald man of average height with a large scar on his face when they entered. They got down to business immediately and after the normal greetings, the man plopped the corpse of the late Chiriku on a slab and started to examine it in order to make sure that it was the genuine article and not some fake not worth a cent.

After a minute or so he looked up and said "Heh, you hit the jackpot this time Kakuzu-san, this is really Chiriku. Congratulations, he had quite the large bounty."

The man then slipped away into a nearby office and brought out a medium sized briefcase which, when opened, revealed a large amount of money, the bounty.

Hidan then said "Come on Kakuzu, you've got your money, let's get out of here."

Kakuzu looked up at his albino compatriot and said "Not so fast, I need to count the money first." Normally counting the money would be disrespectful as it implies mistrust in the keeper of the bounty house. It's customary for the first few bounties of course, but after a while a certain amount of leeway is supposed to be given. Not with Kakuzu, with him just counting the money is considered trusting. If he DIDN'T trust the guy, he would be going over random notes with a portable microscope, trying to detect forgeries. Evidently this bounty-master had worked with Kakuzu before since he didn't comment on it, but Hidan did.

"I don't know if that stench is the piss outside or that body, but either way I can't stand it. If you need me Kakuzu, I'll be outside." Then Hidan left to sit on the stairs out front, leaving Kakuzu to his money counting.

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As this happened, with Team 10

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The modified Team 10 was moving as quickly as they could towards the hidden bounty house that they believed the Akatsuki would drop off Chiriku's body.

As they did, Shikamaru asked his sensei a question. "Asuma-sensei, what's bothering you?"

Asuma looked over at his genius, yet lazy, student and said "What makes you think that anything is wrong, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and said "Please, sensei, it's obvious. You only stop smoking when you are really worried about something and you haven't quit like this since the Sandaime got killed. Is it about this Chiriku guy?"

Asuma merely said "It is and it isn't at the same time. Me and Chiriku WERE like you and Choji when we were in the guardsmen together, but it isn't Chiriku's death that's bothering me, at least not so much. The thing that is really getting to me is the fact that someone was able to bring him down. That is what's worrying me Shikamaru. Chiriku was definitely no pushover. I'm not sure that, if he was alive and in good health, I would be able to take him down."

Naturally, hearing that the people that they were going to be fighting were stronger than the Jounin leading them was not good for morale among the three Chuunin and their faces went white. 'If Asuma-senpai couldn't defeat them, we have no chance.' Were the thoughts of Izumo and Kotetsu. Shikamaru immediately started working on a plan to ambush the pair of criminals since after hearing that, he realized that they didn't have much of a chance in a straight fight.

However he didn't get much time as within five minutes of Asuma's confession they found the place where the bounty house was being hidden and they saw none other than a white-haired Akatsuki member sitting on the front steps. Shikamaru came up with a plan immediately and after informing the other three on the team, they split up to put it into effect.

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Hidan POV

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Hidan was sitting on the steps that led into the hidden bounty house trying to wait patiently for his partner to get the hell out there. In the meantime he was trying to figure out a way to get that horrid smell off of his clothes.

'Man, what the fuck! You go in there for less than five minutes and it sets in and builds a fucking house. Man, I am going to kill you Kakuzu.'

As the albino Akatsuki member was mentally griping about his current olfactory state however a shadow fell upon his back.

Thinking it was his partner Hidan turned around and said "About damn time you-." He would have gone on but halfway through he noticed that the person was not Kakuzu; it was some monkey look alike fuck who tried to cut his head off with a Jashin damned trench knife!

Of course Hidan was NOT a member of Akatsuki for nothing and he was able to get out of way, jumping to the bottom of the steps. He looked up at his opponent and after taking a closer look at his features, Konoha headband and the mark of the Lord of Fire on his waistband, realized who it was.

He was just about to comment on it and reach for his triple-bladed scythe, only to realize that he _couldn't_ somehow he was completely immobilized.

Asuma simply yelled "NOW!" and two dudes came out of fucking nowhere and ran him though the sides with two katanas.

Hidan looked at one, then the other, then he looked at the dude on the roof, who he followed his shadow to. 'Must be a Nara.' He thought and then he looked at the man he recognized to be Sarutobi Asuma and said "Ouch, that kind of hurt. So, who the fuck are you guys?"

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With Team 8

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It had taken some quick traveling but they eventually reached Taihaku. It was a decent sized place. Not as big as Konoha or Tanzaku-Gai, but it was pretty close. The four of them were working with two other teams to protect the town. Each one had three Chuunin and was led by a Jounin. Taihaku was under constant protection by three teams at all times that were regularly replaced every four months, meaning that a team would be protecting the town for a year before going home, and they were the most recent replacement team.

This town was really important to Konoha, it supplied almost 70 percent of the entire villages produce, not only to Konoha either, a lot of villages in the entire country relied on Taihaku. Grain, fruits, vegetables, herbs, cheeses a decent percentage of their meat supplies. All of these came from Taihaku, it was the biggest farming town in the entire country and Konoha gave it protection 24/7/365 days a year. If Taihaku went down, a lot of people in not only Konoha, but the entire country would have to tighten their belts a bit due to a large food shortage. It was an important job.

Of course such a place would be targeted almost constantly by bandits and thieves so the main place that was targeted was the main storage area, which was always protected by one of the Jounin in charge. The current three Jounin were Yuuhi Kurenai, of course, Maito Gai and Team 9 surprisingly, and last but not least Konoha's snake mistress Mitarashi Anko, much to Kurenai's delight. With Anko here at least they could have some _'fun'_ every now and then. It would make the current job a little more bearable. She did get a little pissed off however when she learned that the council had broken the normal schedule and sent Anko out after Kurenai's team. Apparently even Orochimaru's death didn't prove her loyalty to the stuck up arrogant bastards. Oh well, such is life. After the first night of getting _'reacquainted' _with each other, neither could say that they really minded.

It was after about a week of protection duty that it happened, exactly half of the city exploded, taking with it Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino, and the three Chuunin under Anko's command.

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About at that time, with Chimera

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Chimera had taken his time, but he eventually got to Taihaku. He had spent the first few days looking at the defenses and found a lot of old 'friends' were protecting it. He was practically ecstatic when he saw the people defending it.

After a while, he came up with a plan of attack that was both effective and fun at the same time. He would sneak in and rig half the town with explosives, and take it out with a single blast and then take down the other half of the place himself during the panic.

So, that's what he did. He snuck in, rigged the place with enough bombs to make it look like the Hindenburg part 2 and rigged each and every bomb to an old fashioned plunger that demolitionists used in the old days.

At that moment he was dealing with a mighty philosophical question 'If I said it, would I get sued? Ah, whatever I don't care no one could hear it anyway. I will take the risk.'

Then he put both hands on the plunger, looked around for a second and the said "Art is a BANG!" as he pressed it down. Then half the town exploded while, miles and miles away Deidara sneezed and thought about suing someone, weird.

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(1) These guys are the two Chuunin who were blocking the door in the beginning of the Chuunin Exams

(2) Do I really need to tell you what this guy's name is? If I do, then no offense, but you need your head examined.

Okay that's that, I hope you enjoyed it, see you next chapter.

Read, Review, and Enjoy,

Artful Lounger


	20. Chapter 20

Greetings to all who give a damn, this is the twentieth chapter of Naruto the Chimera in all it's glory, enjoy it

Greetings to all who give a damn, this is the twentieth chapter of Naruto the Chimera in all it's glory, enjoy it.

Note before I begin: I apparently fucked up the timeline in the last chapter what with the Taihaku bombing so I will officially correct that here.

The Taihaku bombing occurred at just about the same time that Hidan got ran through, so completely disregard all of my timeline mistakes in the last chapter, thank you for your forgiveness.

So, let's get this party (see 'Massacre') started then shall we?

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Last Chapter

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While Hidan got ambushed by a modified Team 10 and eventually got ran through both sides with two katanas, Team 8 was ordered to defend the major farming town of Taihaku, with the help of Team 9 (Gai's Team) as well as Anko and three nameless Chuunin.

While Hidan is fighting Asuma, Shikamaru, Kotetsu and Izumo at the same time and getting stabbed, Chimera snuck through the guard that the three teams set up and planted a large amount of explosives, which he set off and thus destroyed about half of the entire town, taking Shino, Neji and the three forever nameless and irrelevant Chuunin with them in the blaze. This leaves Anko, Kurenai, Gai, Tenten, Lee, Hinata, and Sasuke left to fend off Chimera, the most deadly Missing-nin in Konoha's history.

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Taihaku, post bombing

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It was one massive ball of confusion. The civilians were panicking, the buildings were burning and the seven remaining ninja were quickly gathering in order to try and make sense of what the hell just happened. While they scouted the area and tried to figure out who the fuck was blasting them out of the water, so to speak, the one who blew them to kingdom-come, Chimera the incredibly deadly, created a few dozen Kage Bunshins and sent them out to murder the civilians, making sure to let a few see his mask and live in order to let people know who it was and burn the fields and storage facilities, while the original hunted the ninja.

The first one he found was Hinata, searching for her teammate Shino. He had to admit that she was very devoted, rather attractive too. 'Such a shame.' He thought. 'Under different circumstances, I could have liked her. Oh well, business is business.' However she had never wronged him so he gave her a painless death. He sent his normal wind blade straight through her neck, killing her instantly and painlessly while keeping her beautiful features intact. **(1)**

He continued to stalk through the streets, removing joy wherever he went and killing any and all he spotted. He came across Anko and Kurenai next in a wide alley between two of the main causeways of the town. They were trying to find the others when he saw them and they saw him and immediately they knew who was attacking them and that their lives were in terrible danger.

Their teamwork was flawless, obviously practiced for a long time. Anko immediately used her Seneijashu, sending multiple snakes to poison him, while Kurenai used her abilities in genjutsu and used the Magen: Narakumi no jutsu to make it appear as though a tree was beginning to encircle him and trap him in its branches.

He used his right eye and cancelled the genjutsu, leaving Kurenai open for just a moment, but he didn't take it. Instead he rushed the late Orochimaru's former apprentice, dodging the snakes as he went. She tried to move away from him but he was too quick, he took hold of her neck and slammed her against the wall. She saw stars as Kurenai tried to come to her aid, but she was too late. Time seemed to slow as Kurenai watched one of Konoha's greatest enemy's fingers surrounding her lover's neck stretched, twisted, and shot through Anko's neck, piercing both Carotid artery and Jugular on the way through. He extracted the single finger as it returned to its normal length and he turned to Kurenai as he let Anko fall to the floor, her life quickly fading.

Kurenai didn't think, not for a second. She immediately drew a kunai and rushed towards her greatest foe with all of the ferocity of a wounded bear, regardless of her safety. She didn't last long. Chimera simply took her by the shoulder and lightly tossed her at the wall near Anko with all the force of a speeding train. When she hit the wall of solid stone blocks, things broke. Not the stone blocks.

Kurenai didn't have much longer, he could tell. He created a few living bombs that attached themselves to the walls as he walked through the short passage. He looked back and saw, as the bombs detonated and the wall crashed in upon them that Kurenai, broken and bleeding, took the hand of the late Anko in hers and put her head on her shoulder as the rubble crushed them both. **(2)**

Chimera moved on and looked for the four remaining ninja in the town. Some of his Kage Bunshin dispelled as he did, informing him that the fields were burning and the main storage area for the harvest was destroyed, as well as the fact that about 90 percent of the civilians were dead. This was all coming along quite nicely, in his opinion.

He continued on until he came across an unwanted sight, the survivors of Team 9. Tenten, Rock Lee, and Maito Gai himself in the flesh, pissed off, and ready to kick some ass. He was a bit frightened really. One, because of the spandex, anyone would be afraid of it, and Two, because Gai was a real threat. If he opened enough of the Hachimon Gates, he would actually have a good chance of taking him down. It would have to be seven or all eight, but it WAS possible, he decided that against the three of them, he wasn't going to screw around. The three saw him, and Lee and Gai got into the normal Gouken stances, and they moved with the ease and grace that spoke of removed weights while Tenten got some distance between them, ready to attack from long range. Underneath his robe, Chimera relaxed, becoming as calm as possible and able to move at a moment's notice, taking in his opponent's every move as he prepared himself for the first tough fight that he has had in years.

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WARNING! EPIC FIGHT AHEAD!

INSERT KICK-ASS BATTLE THEME HERE!

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Gai ran at him at his full speed, which was considerable and launched used a Konoha Senpuu, aiming to take off his head and end the battle quickly, but he would not allow it. He bent backward at an almost 90 degree angle and avoided the kick. As Gai soared past the fingers of his left hand shot out and wrapped around one leg and slammed Gai against the wall, buying him a few seconds to deal with his students.

Lee attacked with his normally incredible Taijutsu boosted by the lack of training weights on his frame, forcing Chimera to release Gai in order to defend against a particularly vicious kick to the midsection, and he suddenly jumped backwards and to the side, giving Tenten a clear target for a few powerful explosives attached to kunai to be launched at him.

Chimera moved as fast as he could in the few seconds he had. He couldn't dodge the kunai, they were too close, but nor he could block them. He sent out his hands to strike at Gai once more, trying to kill the Jounin as fast as possible, but was only successful in giving him several deep puncture wounds before the kunai hit and he was blown to pieces.

Gai rose and they all gave a sigh of relief as they saw that Chimera was in several pieces on the ground, unmoving. The three turned to move out and try to find the others when a number of long spikes of flesh tore through Gai.

The two looked back in shock as they saw their sensei pierced through the chest by the elongated fingers of Chimera's disembodied hand. Gai's face went white as he felt the fingers penetrate his heart and lungs and his world went dark as he felt them retract, tearing at his flesh. The two remaining ninja watched in horror and awe as tendrils of flesh stretched from the stumps of Chimera's severed limbs and torso, connecting them, while lumps of flesh moved on their own to rejoin the main body, simply being absorbed into the greater mass as Chimera rebuilt himself. He was still alive and unharmed, his brain and heart intact and whole.

Lee was furious. At this traitor for taking so much from everyone. For the pain he had caused numerous people and the thousands of lives that he had stolen. He didn't even think as he opened six of the seven Gates of the Hachimon that he was able to open, having never been taught how to open the Eighth.

Chimera realized that if Lee really got going, then he could possible die. As such, he took immediate preventative measures. From all over his body at lightning speed tendrils of flesh grew and moved and then pierced Lee's body in multiple places, immobilizing him while he was trying to open the Seventh Gate.

Tenten saw her friend's plight and moved forward to help, but was prevented by Chimera. His arms had stretched and his fingers wrapped around her throat. As one hand held onto her neck, his other hand gripped her shoulder and in one savage twist he snapped the bun-haired girl's neck.

That left only Lee, his power being sapped by the chakra that he was pushing through his system. As he had some time left he decided to make this fun. As he stood by, several tendrils of flesh reached up to his neck and sank downward into his body behind the collarbone, going into his ribcage. As he did so, he had them weave in between the ribs at both sides, over one, under the next and so on. Until at last the tendrils were interwoven with his entire ribcage, the tips lying just under the lowest pair. Then with one monstrous pull, he yanked the tendrils outward sideways, ripping open Lee's ribcage like opening a clam. After that gravity took over and Lee's heart, lungs, liver, and every other internal organ between his waist and neck spilt onto the street and as he fell to the ground while blood flew through the air. Lee's eyes darkened and closed, never to open again. Chimera turned and continued onwards, looking for the last of the twelve ninja that guarded the place, Uchiha Sasuke.

As he searched for the arrogant coward, the rest of the Kage Bunshin dispelled, informing him that of all the civilians, three were allowed to escape. The three were an old man, and two young children who he had made sure had seen his mask. The rest of the town was mostly destroyed, all that was left was to finally take care of Sasuke once and for all and he could continue on with his travels.

He finally found him trying to get away and make it back to Konoha, but he was prevented by the masked ninja. Chimera didn't use physical torture like he did on Kakashi, he used mental torment. He reached into his mind and tore it apart. IF the damage to his mind had been physical, then Sasuke would look like he had been attacked by a horde of sharks, great chunks of flesh just missing, numerous broken bones and torn muscles. As it was, his sanity was going to be hard pressed to remain intact.

Then he added something more. He placed a curse upon Sasuke, just as he did Kakashi years ago. Instead of a Curse of Nightmares, however, this was a Curse of Torment. It took the form of a long black strand of barbed wire, charged with burning cold energy that attached itself to the Uchiha. The barbs gouged deep into his flesh every few inches, the entire thing winding around his body, the ends sinking seamlessly into his throat and his left ankle, causing endless mental and physical pain that would only grow worse over time. The wire itself was invisible. The only things that might detect it would be a Sharingan, Byakugan, or a very high level scanning jutsu, if they found it than they _could _remove it, but he felt sorry for the bastard that did. The Cursed Wire would instinctively try to attach itself to the one who removed it, but odds are that it would never be noticed. He left the Uchiha, immobilized and maddened with pain in the path of the few people he had left alive which seemed to be headed to Konoha. It didn't matter though, by the time they got him to a hospital his curse and the already damaged mind together would have already sent Uchiha Sasuke to a place from which he would never be able to return. For all intents and purposes, Uchiha Sasuke was dead. His body still breathed, but his mind was gone.

He had heard that Hidan and Kakuzu were having fun somewhere, so he decided to crash the party as he set out upon the road, burning town and massacred people behind him.

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At the same time (roughly) in a men's bathroom far, far away

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Hidan stared at Asuma, confidant in his victory as the four ninja looked on in shock. The man had taken two katanas through the sides and he was still living. They were absolutely speechless. This just wasn't possible.

Apparently it was however as Hidan didn't act hurt in the slightest.

Izumo gave into it first and asked "What's going on, he should be dead!"

Hidan merely looked at him and said "Quit moving around so much, that fucking hurts damn it!" Izumo merely said to the others "Is this guy immortal?" Hidan merely smirked at the Chuunin and said "Isn't it obvious? Now seriously, who are you two? I like to know the names of my offerings."

Asuma merely looked down on him from the top of the stairs and said in an official, ritual chant regularity voice that you get from speech-giving politicians and cops saying the whole rights speech when they arrest you "We are the shinobi of Konoha, and we have come under orders to capture or otherwise eliminate you." Asuma took up his normal combat stance as he said "Akatsuki members work in pairs, where's your partner? We were planning on capturing him after taking you out, but it looks like your abilities are going to present problems after all. So, where is he?"

Hidan just smiled and said "Well, it looks like you chose the wrong guy to take out first huh? As for my partner, easy he's right there."

At that moment, Kakuzu appeared, skin darkened and hardened, fist raised, just behind the immobile Nara Shikamaru as he brought the fist down. The entire section of roof collapsed as Shikamaru made it out of the dust in one piece, but the shadow jutsu that held Hidan in place was broken.

Asuma moved quickly, putting himself between Kakuzu and his student, while the two other Chuunin realized the danger they were in and immediately backed off, landing near Shikamaru while facing the albino Akatsuki.

Kakuzu spoke, his deep voice demanding the attention of all who heard it "I figured that was you in the middle, Hidan. It looks like you hit the jackpot for once."

Hidan started drawing a circle on the ground in the blood the Chuunin spilled as he responded "Kakuzu, don't you dare touch them, they are all a part of my ritual. You can keep the money though." He completed this sentence just as he completed the ritual circle and it flashed blue with Hidan's chakra, making it all but permanent.

Kakuzu merely glanced at his partner and said "Whatever you want, as long as I get the money. Just don't let your guard down Hidan, or you'll die."

Finally getting pissed at that line, Hidan yelled to his partner as he charged their four opponents "Would you stop telling me that!?"

Just before Hidan attacked, Asuma gave a few orders. "Shikamaru, I want you to wait for an opening and nail him with your Kagenui. Do that and I will lop off his head to stop him that way."

Shikamaru looked at his sensei and said "That's too risky." Kotetsu nodded his head, signaling his agreement.

Asuma got slightly pissed off at this and looked at them while he said "Don't you two get it? These guys outdo me by far, and this is the best choice that we can make right now. Izumo, Kotetsu, I need you to watch the other guy while you guard Shikamaru."

Izumo tried to rationalize with Asuma "But knowing their strength now is all the more reason… shouldn't we retreat and try to think of something…."

Asuma shook his head and replied "There's no way that they would let us go that easily. If we try and run with our tails between our legs, we'll all end up dead."

That was all they said before Hidan struck with one of the katanas removed from his side, shouting a mantra "Divine Judgment awaits heathens ignorant to the pain of others."

Asum met him head on, katana against Asuma's chakra blade, the chakra blade slicing through the steel like butter. At the same time, Shikamaru used his Kagenui and several tendrils of shadow stretched and tried to pierce Hidan's body, but he dodged them all, throwing the other sword at Asuma at the same time, but it was dealt with just as easily as the first. What Asuma couldn't defend against however, was the massive scythe that came in from the side, straight at him. He moved to the left, away from the blade and using his arms to defend himself. It wasn't much, but only the longest blade on the scythe touched Asuma, slicing into the skin above his left eye and drawing blood. After seeing that, Hidan drew the weapon back and licked the blood off of the blade.

As Hidan did that, Asuma went through a few handseals and used Katon: Haisekishou to send a great cloud of dust at his enemy. He clicked his teeth, setting the flammable cloud ablaze. The ashes went up in flames, taking Hidan with them. Or at least that was what they thought. As they watched, Asuma's left arm, hand and his neck were covered in 2nd-3rd degree burns, surprising everyone but Kakuzu, he had seen this before.

As the smoke of Asuma's fire cleared, it revealed Hidan, crouched low in the circle that he had inscribed in the ground. His skin was black, with white areas around his bones. As the four watched in shock he simply said "You have been ignorant to the pain of others, so I will teach you to respect and consider it before you act. Then he looked up and he shouted "Together we shall feel that sublime suffering, together we shall feel the pain that shall BE YOUR DEATH!"

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(1) I like Hinata, as you may be able to tell, so I gave her a painless death. NaruHina FTW!

(2) Shojo-Ai FOR ALL!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I really had fun writing it. Any way, Read, Review, and most importantly Enjoy.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	21. Chapter 21

Greetings people, here it is, the not so long awaited (because I update quickly) Naruto the Chimera chapter 21

Greetings people, here it is, the not so long awaited (because I update quickly) Naruto the Chimera chapter 21!

I have nothing in particular to say, so let's get started shall we?

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In the last chapter

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Chimera decimated Taihaku, killing everyone except Sasuke, who he left under a massive mental and physical torment curse as well as a mauled psyche, and headed to crash the modified Team 10's fight with Hidan and Kakuzu.

At the same time, Hidan is dealing with the modified Team 10 and has successfully gotten Asuma's blood, consumed it, and gotten into his circle. Then he burned Asuma with his own Katon Jutsu.

Let's get started.

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At some men's bathroom

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None of them had any idea what happened. Burns suddenly appeared on Asuma's hand, arm and neck, but they had no idea how. They just appeared there.

Kotetsu merely uttered "H-how did Asuma-Taicho get burned?" In a disbelieving sort of voice.

The other two remained silent as the recently transformed Akatsuki member, Hidan, reached into his cloak and pulled out a large ritual stake and chuckled at his opponent's faces.

Asuma didn't say a word. He ignored his extensive burns and raised his trench knife, funning his chakra through it and forcing it into a long blade, with which he charged the albino Akatsuki.

Hidan didn't blink, didn't even look surprised. When he saw Asuma running towards him, smirked and then took the ritual pike… and ran it through his own left thigh.

Asuma's eyes went wide and his face went white as he clutched at his leg while he fell to the ground.

Hidan enjoyed what was going on at the moment and merely said "Hehehe, hurts doesn't it? Not as much as your vital I'll bet. There you find the greatest pain of all."

It was right about then that Kotetsu, Izumo and Shikamaru found out the trick behind Hidan's technique, or at least what it did. Asuma realized it too.

He thought 'So, our bodies are connected by some trick of his so that whatever happens to him happens to me too. But, this guy can't be killed.'

Hidan then spoke once more "He, so what pain do you want to savor first? Or," At this he put the stake at his chest. "Do you want me to end it right now?"

At that moment, Izumo gave Shikamaru an order to try and save their captain "Shikamaru, use Kage Kubi Shibari and stop his movement!"

Shikamaru didn't notice really, he just nodded an immediately did the jutsu in question, sending a stream of shadow at his opponent. It got there just in time to prevent Hidan from running himself through with his stake, saving Asuma from immediate death, but he was still in serious danger.

Then Skikamaru, working on what his enemy has said thus far and his own deductions about the Akatsuki member's jutsu, moved his enemy out of his circle. He quickly told Izumo to check if the jutsu wore off, and the Chuunin tossed a shuriken that went through the albino's left ear, leaving an obvious nick. Asuma however remained unharmed; the curse as their enemy had called it was no longer effective.

Asuma realized this too and once again pushed chakra into his trench knife, extending it into a long blade and rushed the immobilized Akatsuki member.

Hidan realized his danger and said "Oi Kakuzu, I could use some help here!"

Kakuzu started to move, but he decided to seal away the briefcase full of money first, Hidan would live, maybe.

As Kakuzu sealed the case into a scroll, he decided that he might as well help Hidan since he was bound to bug him later if he didn't.

He looked over just in time to see Hidan get his head cut off.

Asuma was absolutely relieved. A few minutes ago he was sure that he was a goner, but now not only he, but his team had a chance of surviving with one of the two taken out. He then turned to face the second Akatsuki member, only to hear a familiar voice call out. "SON OF A BITCH THAT HURT!!"

Then he heard the deep voice of the other enemy, Kakuzu "If you wanted my help, you should have asked sooner."

He turned to where he heard the voice and found the second Akatsuki talking with the cut of head of the first one, while creepy in its own right, what really bothered him was that the head was talking back!

"YOU WERE LATE KAKUZU!! YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE DIDN'T YOU!?"

Kakuzu just shrugged and said "You were the one who told me not to interfere from the start, and besides, is this really a good time to be yelling like that?"

Hidan just grimaced and said "Eh, I might have told you not to interfere and insulted you a lot, but at the moment I don't feel like yelling at you for making a fool out of me…." By this time the thoughts of all four members of the modified Team 10 were pretty much all along the lines of 'NO FUCKING WAY!'

Hidan just looked up and said "… Kakuzu, bring me my body would ya?"

Kakuzu then, to Hidan's surprise, just reached down and picked up Hidan's head by the hair, and needless to say this caused more than a bit of discomfort to the immortal albino.

"Damn it Kakuzu, I said to bring me my body, not the other way around!"

Kakuzu just looked down at the head in his hand and said "Your head is lighter, now shut up before I drop kick you into the forest."

At that point Hidan shut up, with Kakuzu's strength, if he drop kicked his head he could go a LONG way, and he didn't feel like remaining unattached from his body for too long.

Then, while Team 10 was still in shock, Kakuzu dashed forward and got Asuma right in the chest, sending him back towards his team, who caught him easily enough. Then the ex-Takigakure ninja kneeled down and with a string from his right arm, stitched Hidan's head back onto his neck. While he did so, he told the albino "Since you asked for my help, I'll be involved in this too. You go for the guy with the bounty, the rest are mine."

Hidan rubbed his neck, which was a bit sore and said "Yeah, alright, their all yours."

At that moment, Kotetsu opened a sealing scroll and yelled to Izumo, who started making handseals for a jutsu. Kotetsu unsealed what was in the scroll, revealing an enormous mace that somewhat resembled a seashell almost as big as he was. He rushed forward with the mace while Izumo finished his jutsu.

Kotetsu sent a lot of chakra to his feet while Izumo yelled out "Suiton: Mizuame Nabara!" and spewed a large amount of a sticky syrup like liquid from his mouth, covering the earth around their opponent. This liquid stuck Kakuzu to the ground while Kotetsu jumped and brought the mace down on Kakuzu's head.

Kakuzu crossed his arms in front of him while the stitching on his forearms undid itself. When it was done, his hands and forearms flew from their normal positions and each one encircled the neck of one of the two Chuunin who attacked him, making them gasp for air.

While all of that was happening Asuma had formed another short sword from his wind chakra that he fed into his chakra blade and rushed Hidan. Hidan jumped to dodge the slash and threw his ritual spike at the Jounin like a javelin, which was barely avoided by a few centimeters.

Asuma then heard a shout of "ASUMA-SENSEI!" from Shikamaru and he turned his head to see Hidan's scythe coming at him from behind, manipulated by the albino's chakra. Asuma ducked to the ground, the scythe going right over him and embedding itself deep in Hidan's abdominal area.

Asuma smirked thinking that the same trick won't work twice on him, and then he felt a horrible pain in his midsection and he saw the last thing he wanted to see at Hidan's feet.

It was a second ritual circle. He must have formed it from the blood spilled from his severed neck while he was distracted by the spike and his scythe and his partner prevented everyone else from noticing by making sure that he was the center of their attention. He suddenly realized that he was royally screwed.

Hidan just chuckled as he saw his enemy realized that he was a dead man walking… or in this case kneeling, whatever. He pulled a second ritual spike from under his robe and pointed it at himself, the three Chuunin now realizing that their captain was in deadly peril, but two of them could do nothing except be strangled by the ancient Kakuzu, while Shikamaru was too far away to do anything and even if he wasn't, he was out of chakra.

Kakuzu knew what was about to happen and simply said "Now it ends." Shikamaru ran forward yelling "STOP!" as he watched Hidan impale himself through the chest, inflicting a fatal wound upon himself and his opponent that only he could possibly survive. Asuma simply kneeled there, frozen in pain and shock as blood spilled from his mouth and from underneath his Jounin jacket upon the stone beneath. Then he just fell over as the light faded from his eyes.

The other three couldn't believe it, their captain was dead. Then they realized what that meant. It meant that they were going to die too; their captain was the best of the group and even if he wasn't, two of them were getting strangled and the third was out of chakra. Simply put, they were royally fucked.

Hidan grinned as he saw the Konoha ninja fall. Then he yanked the spike out of his chest and said "I'm done here Kakuzu." While his skin turned back into its normal ivory shade.

Kakuzu merely said "Yeah, I'm almost finished here too."

Shikamaru rose, kunai in hand and ran toward Hidan yelling "YOU BASTARD!" Kakuzu nailed him with a few of his threads, knocking Shikamaru back into the wall as he continued to strangle the two unfortunate Chuunin. Then a black bird soared into his vision and he realized that their reinforcements must have arrived. He finished it quickly and squeezed as hard as he could. Then, with a resounding CRACK the necks of the two Chuunin shattered. Kakuzu jumped back toward Hidan as more birds entered the area, obviously meant to distort their vision.

Another team showed up, consisting of Raido **(1), **Ino, Choji, and another Chuunin wearing sunglasses. **(2)**

Raido and Ino took the bodies of Kotetsu and Asuma respectively while Choji picked up Izumo's corpse and helped Shikamaru out of there while the other Chuunin made sure that the two Akatsuki members didn't get near them, but it didn't look like they really cared. They seemed like they were in a bit of a trance.

Raido got prepared to fight in order to give the others an opening to get out of there, but it was unnecessary. The immortal Akatsuki pair went back to normal and Hidan looked pissed. He said, seemingly into thin air "Come on, can't you wait a bit? Seriously, the good part was just about to start." Then he listened and apparently heard an answer because he let out a dejected sigh and said "Fine…. Then he looked over to the assembled group of ninja and said "You guys really lucked out, but we'll be back. Wait right here, we'll be back soon enough."

Apparently Asuma was still alive barely as he coughed up some blood. Shikamaru shouted "Asuma-sensei! Ino, Choji, get Asuma-sensei out of here!"

Hidan chuckled and said "Are you guys deaf? I just said to wait here until I get back. That guy is a goner as it is, but take a good look kid, because you'll be next! Until then however, we have some business to take care of. See you later, idiots!" And on that last word, Hidan and Kakuzu vanished in a puff of smoke.

Shikamaru checked Asuma's condition, but apparently that cough of blood was Asuma's last deed. He was dead. Raido took off his cloak and used it to cover Asuma's body in a homemade shroud. He merely said "He fell fighting the enemies of the village, he died like a true shinobi." Then they got to work on getting the bodies back to the village. They needed to give Tsunade their report.

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Chimera's current location, about 1 mile from the location of the 'bathroom brawl'

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Chimera was sad to see that the fight was over before he got their, but at least he understood why, Pein was calling the Akatsuki together to seal another Bijuu. There were only three left. The Nibi, the Sanbi, and the Hachibi. All of the others were already sealed. They would never find all of them though. The reason was simple; he had already kidnapped the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, some unlucky bastard from Iwa. He would wait until he was the only jinchuuriki left and then Chimera would make his move, and take out two birds with one stone. He took pleasure in that thought as he placed a few powerful genjutsu around him before he let his conciousness join the others at the summoned King of Hell statue.

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King of Hell statue

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It was the normal procedure, one day to seal each of them. Chimera was very surprised at this. They were going to be sealing two Bijuus at once, the Nibi and Sanbi had been captured at almost the same time. He realized that his plan would get to come to fruition a lot sooner than he thought. It would take years or decades in order for his overall goal to be achieved, but this was the most important first step. As the day passed and the Sanbi was sealed, Chimera created a number of enhanced Kage Bunshins and sent them to the locations of each member of Akatsuki which he could find by following the trail of chakra through each of the silhouettes for miles until he came to the real thing. Each Kage Bunshin took its position near each Akatsuki member's real body, the only exceptions being Hidan and Kakuzu, each of the clones only a few miles away from their targets while he prepared a seal he had made years ago to activate.

As they began to seal the Nibi, whose Jinchuuriki was a rather pretty girl from Kumo he noticed, he began to smile under his mask. It would begin so soon. He was glad right now that he had helped Pein kill that idiot Madara; he would have been a real pain at this critical juncture. All of his patience was about to bear fruit, everything was about to come together. This really was turning out to be a WONDERFUL day. **(3)**

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Konoha, the Hokage's office

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Shikamaru had just finished giving his account of what had happened to Tsunade. It was an absolute disaster. Not only had they lost Asuma, one of their best Jounin, they had also lost the remaining members of the 'rookie 12' as they were known as well as their senseis, Mitarashi Anko, three other Chuunin, and the town of Taihaku. Shikamaru learned about the 'Taihaku Massacre' as it was now called and he was scared and angry at the same time. It was Chimera; it was always Chimera behind such things. He had killed every member of the rookie twelve except for himself, Ino, Choji, and Sasuke who was actually making a bit of a recovery from whatever Chimera did to him.

It was a massive torture jutsu, if it hadn't been found when it did, Sasuke would be gone forever, at least in mind. It was pure luck that saved him. The old man that escaped was apparently an ex-ninja and got the other survivors, two small kids, and the Uchiha heir to Konoha within a few hours of the attack. The only reason they found it was because a Hyuuga saw the jutsu with his Byakugan by accident and removed it without having any idea what it was.

It was a dumb move, whatever it was then attached itself to and killed the Hyuuga before dissipating. It took all of Tsunade's best care to let the Uchiha keep his sanity. Apparently though, even that wouldn't have saved him if it weren't for his brother. Surprisingly, being hit by the Itachi's Tsukuyomi let him build up endurance for mental pain, so he kept his mind, barely, and he would be able to start training again before long. Just to survive that though, made him the luckiest arrogant bastard on the planet. Or the unluckiest, depending on how you look at it. Who knew what Chimera would do to the Uchiha if he found out that Sasuke was still alive. One thing is guaranteed though, it wouldn't be pleasant, that was for certain.

Then he gathered Ino and Choji once all 12 of the funerals, eleven of which were caused by Chimera, were finished, and they set off to look for revenge for their late sensei.

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Roughly a day later

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They had found them. It was close, but they had done it. They had apparently just woken up from a nap or something, because they were moving a bit stiff, but they closed in quickly. Shikamaru threw one of his new trench knives, courtesy of Asuma's last will and testament, into each of the Akatsuki member's shadows while their guards were down. He was just mocking them both as Ino and Choji prepared for the kill when he felt a massive pain in the back of his knee and he fell over.

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Meanwhile with Chimera

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He was watching the remnants of Team 10 stalk Hidan and Kakuzu and considered them extremely lucky that they had just helped seal two Bijuu. They were both exhausted, if they weren't they would never have caught them. But still it was time for his plan to go into action. He sent a message to each of his Kage Bunshin to execute their orders and he activated the pre-created seal.

At that moment the Kage Bunshin of Chimera watching Itachi and Kisame from afar stood up and got into a stance to steady himself then raised his arm, a single finger pointing at Kisame from miles away. As he watched, an incredibly small Rasengan formed at the tip, not much bigger than a normal person's eye. He charged as much chakra as he could into it and with a cry of "Rasengan **Sniper!"** launched it at higher speeds than the speed of sound, the ball of chakra outran its own sonic boom from the launch of so much condensed chakra. Kisame had no idea what the hell just happened when his head suddenly exploded. Itachi looked around quickly, trying to determine what had just happened, only to have a huge hole blown in his chest. He saw a figure with a white skull mask approach him and take his ring then Kisame's before leaving, setting an explosive before he went. It was Chimera.

The same occurred with Deidara and Sasori. They had no idea what was happening until it was too late, they were both assassinated and their rings taken from their bodies, then destroying the bodies before continuing on.

The same occurred with Zetsu, he never had a chance.

In Amegakure, there were two clones, each member their deserved their own. In the 'Amekage tower', in the room where Pein kept five of his six bodies, a hidden seal activated, releasing five Kage Bunshin into the room. Each one beheaded one of the five bodies, leaving Pein as a normal person once more.

Outside, at the same time, a Kage Bunshin assassinated Pein from afar, he had no idea what just happened. The same happened to Konan, a little fire chakra being added to the tiny Rasengan to burn her paper body. The two rings were taken from the dead Akatsuki leader and his second in command, and then carried them off to the original. None of them ever had a chance; this had far too much planning for them to have the slightest chance of surviving.

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With Chimera

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Chimera looked and realized that it was time to intervene. He really didn't want to be trapped by Shikamaru so he did what his clones did; he formed a Rasengan Sniper and launched it at the Nara. Is aim was off though. He was aiming for the back of the head, but he got the leg at the knee. Oh well, either way he was out of the action. Chimera moved in, and he was in the clearing in seconds.

Ino and Choji recognized Chimera immediately as did Shikamaru. Chimera was not an easy person to forget, and in an instant their blood was up. That whole thing didn't last long. Two blades of wind later and they were both dead, he was surprised that they became Chuunin at that level; they really weren't ready for the job yet, strength wise. Oh well, they were paying for it now.

He did the same to Shikamaru, reveling in the fear and shock he saw in the Nara's eyes as he did so. Naturally however, this pissed off Hidan to no end. "Hey, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Chimera turned and in a second Hidan's head was cut off too. A quick hand movement and his fingers stretched and quickly pierced Kakuzu's body, each one surrounding a heart, putting him at Chimera's mercy.

They were both surprised, Chimera was a traitor? Who would have guessed it?

What he said next surprised them both even more. "I have a **proposition for you both."** Given that they were both helpless at that moment they didn't really have much choice, they asked what he had in mind.

He explained "It is quite simple**, you will obey my orders, and operate as my left and right hands **for what I have in mind."

Kakuzu asked what he was talking about and Chimera told him, at that moment they were sure that Chimera was insane. "What the hell are you talking about? There's no way that's true."

Chimera looked at him and said "Well, it is true, and you will help me in the future with my operation. It will take years, maybe decades, but it is possible."

Hidan, being who he was, simply had to ask "Why the hell should we obey you?"

Chimera looked at him and said "It is quite simple really, you can serve, **or you can be served - as a meal. You have a choice of course."**

He had them both over a barrel and they all knew it. They didn't have any choice but to agree. When they did though, they felt something odd overcome them, a deep sense of loyalty to Chimera, it was bizarre, but all of a sudden they couldn't even think about disobeying his orders, no matter what they might be.

Kakuzu simply said "What will you do about Pein when the finds out you have betrayed him?"

Chimera's answer shocked them both again for the third time in an hour. "Who cares what he thinks, he's already dead. As are the others. We are the last three living members of Akatsuki still alive."

When they asked how, he told them and they were suddenly a bit more respectful, odd. He just told them that he assassinated them all simultaneously, roughly, while he sat down a mile from there and they speak to him more politely.

Hidan however asked "Oi, Chimera! Why did you choose us? There must be some reason."

Chimera nodded as he released Kakuzu and he sewed Hidan's head back on. He said "Of course, your abilities will allow you to live for centuries or longer. If I am **going to have knights, or whatever you want to call yourselves, I would prefer that they would live as long as I will instead** of someone who will succumb to old age in just a few decades."

Kakuzu nodded, understanding the point and asked "So, what are our first orders Chimera-Sama?"

Chimera smiled beneath his mask "Simple."

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(1) The Jounin with the burn scar

(2) I have no idea what this dude's name is

(3) I was really tempted to be cruel and end the chapter there

And that is it, he story is starting to heat up a bit! What do you guys think?

Read, Review, and Enjoy,

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	22. Chapter 22

Welcome one and all

Welcome one and all! I'm back, I'm high as a kite (JK), and I am ready to write! Let whatever comes into my head at the moment of hand-keyboard unification begin!

Author's Note: Someone asked why I keep letting Sasuke live, and the answer is simple, it is so I can keep doing even WORSE stuff to him, but don't worry, the next confrontation between the two shall be the last.

Let God's (my) Wisdom be heard!

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In the last chapter

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"Where's the BOMB!?

"WE ONLY HAVE 24 HOURS!"

Whoa, wrong channel, let's see here, ahah!

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What REALLY happened last Chapter

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The Bathroom fight between Asuma, Shikamaru, Izumo, and Kotetsu versus Hidan and Kakuzu occurred. During the battle, Asuma, Kotetsu and Izumo were killed, but Shikamaru was saved by a combination of the necessary sealing of the Nibi and Sanbi and an intervention by Raido, Ino, Choji, and Aoba (Finally got the name of the dude with the sunglasses, and he's a Chuunin not a Jounin, sorry about that mistake)

We find that Chimera had long ago captured the Hachibi Jinchuuriki and that 8 of the 9 Bijuus have already been sealed by the Akatsuki, making him the last.

Chimera assassinated all of the Akatsuki members, taking their rings and destroying the bodies, the only exception being Hidan and Kakuzu, who he made his left and right hands after he killed Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji, making he and Sasuke the last remaining members of the 'Rookie 12' still alive.

Let the story continue.

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With Chimera, Hidan, and Kakuzu

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Chimera was talking to his new vassals, for lack of a better term.

"My first orders for you are two-fold. First, give me your Akatsuki rings, my **Bunshins should be here any minute with the others and I will need them soon."**

As he told them to do so, they took off their Akatsuki rings and gave them to him, when they did, he took them and put them on his left index and middle fingers. At that time, four clones came out of the trees, a bit winded from running all the way there and handed their creator the remaining rings, who then donned them. Chimera was wearing all ten Akatsuki rings, each one on the appropriate finger.

He dispelled the Bunshins and reclaimed the chakra that went into making them, along with their memories. He smiled as he saw the deaths of Pein's six bodies; the man was one of the biggest threats to his plans. Then he turned to his vassals and said "There is something I must take care of, in **the meantime, you are to capture Jiraiya of the Sannin, ALIVE and take him** to this location, bound to these specifications. I will meet you there soon enough." Chimera then handed Kakuzu a scroll with a map of the Elemental Countries upon it. There was a small 'X' near the border of Ame no Kuni and Hi no Kuni; there was also a few lines of writing near the bottom, instructions.

Kakuzu looked at it and nodded, and then he left the clearing, his partner right behind him. Chimera watched them go thinking 'After all these years, it is finally time for master and apprentice to meet again.'

Then he too vanished from the clearing, leaving behind the bodies of Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru to rot.

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In Konoha, the Hokage's office

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Tsunade was shocked, as was everyone in the entire village. She had just gotten the most surprising report she had ever seen from Jiraiya's spy network. It was as if Kami-Sama himself had answered their prayers. She could remember every word of the conversation even now.

Jiriaya barged into her office, all composure gone and he yelled "Tsunade, the Akatsuki are all dead!" Tsunade was incredibly shocked, why would Jiraiya make jokes at a time like this? She did what she normally did when Jiraiya did something stupid, she picked up a decent sized paperweight, and threw it right at his head saying "Now's not the time for jokes you idiot!"

Jiraiya, now with a rather large bump on his head just said, "I'm not joking Tsunade, almost every single Akatsuki member is dead." She just looked at Jiraiya like he just grew a second head and said. "Are you serious? If so, how did they all die?" She couldn't believe it, in her experience, if something was too good to be true, it probably wasn't real.

Jiraiya just said the one word she never wanted to hear again, it was one of the few things that could piss her off in record time. 'Chimera' He said

Jiraiya elaborated "It was him, he assassinated all of them, almost at exactly the same time, Uchiha Itachi, Hoshagaki Kisame, Akasuna no Sasori, all of them. The only ones still alive are Chimera, and the two that killed Asuma. They were apparently in this entire thing together. Who knows what their planning, but six of the most dangerous people in the world are dead, and one of the most dangerous organizations in the world has been crippled."

She couldn't believe her ears, sure the three most dangerous ones were still alive, but two thirds of the Akatsuki were gone! Before she could say anything Jiraiya continued on "Tsunade, you need to spread the word, in the meantime I need to go out and find out what's going on. Sensei is behind this, and that alone means that we can't take it lightly. He's up to something; he always is, no matter what happens, he is ready for it. I need to leave now and try to find out what that is before it's too late to prepare for it. I'll send you a message when I find out what's what." Then, without another word, Jiraiya vanished in a burst of smoke, leaving Tsunade in the stunned condition she was in now.

So, without anything else planned, she called in Shizune. When the perky, yet sometimes stern brunette appeared, she said to her "Send this news out to the entire village…."

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With Jiraiya

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He was moving as quickly as possible, trying to figure out what was going on. Why would Chimera take out the Akatsuki? It made no sense, no matter how he looked at it. He had to simply assume that his sensei had something planned that involved something that he had no idea about. It wouldn't be impossible, Chimera always seemed to know things that no one had ever even thought of before, and THAT was what really worried him, and what he hoped to find out.

He had made it to about ten miles away from Konoha's North Gate, headed to Amegakure, where the Akatsuki leader was supposed to be located. If the answers to Chimera's plan were anywhere, they would probably be there.

But, in that ordinary spot, he was stopped by an Albino with a triple bladed scythe.

"Jiraiya, I finally found you, not that you made it that hard. It's time you came with me, the master wants to talk to you."

Jiraiya could only guess that the master the man was talking about was Chimera, he recognized Hidan. He knew what he was dealing with and that he would have to end the battle without receiving a single wound, otherwise he would probably die, or at least get a very painful and distracting wound. And he would need to be at his best to get anything done once he got to Amegakure.

That said, he told the Albino, quite nicely, that both he and his master could fuck off. That didn't sit well with the ex-Akatsuki member, and he lunged at him, scythe in hand. Jiraiya couldn't believe that someone this slow was an Akatsuki member as he easily avoided the slash by jumping back into the trees. Then he realized that someone that slow _couldn't _be an Akatsuki member, their standards were too high. He came to the conclusion that either he was dealing with a fake or, and at this moment he felt a feeling of dread wash over him in a torrent, it was a setup.

He came to the correct conclusion just as Kakuzu nailed him in the back of the head with a tree branch. The Sannin was out cold before he hit the ground.

He said to Hidan "I can't believe it was that easy."

He looked up at his partner "I know what you mean, he must be tired or something if he was that careless."

Kakuzu nodded and then jumped down from the tree, and bound Jiraiya's arms and legs with rope and said "Let's get going, we need to get this guy to the agreed upon location before Chimera-Sama is done with his errand." As he put Jiraiya over his shoulder and started to walk off. Hidan simply nodded and put away his scythe and fell into step beside his companion.

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Some random cave

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While this happened, Chimera was sealing the last Jinchuuriki into the King of Hell statue, the Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi no Orochi. With all ten rings, it was very possible for a single person to perform the seal. It's a lot faster too since you don't have to coordinate the efforts of ten people all at once. But that was the method Pein used to seal the Bijuu because it lessened the chakra requirement for each person involved, even though it made it harder and take longer overall. Chimera didn't have that problem. With only one person with all ten rings performing the ritual, the entire thing would take only two hours. It was simplicity itself, but it took a shit-load of chakra, which is why Pein never did it this way, he didn't have anything near the amount of chakra to perform the ritual himself. It took about as much chakra to seal a Bijuu into the Statue as the Ichibi possessed in its entire body, but it wasn't really a problem for Chimera, he had chakra in spades.

Before long, the two hours were up, the Hachibi was sealed, the Jinchuuriki was dead, and the final eye of the King of Hell Statue was filled. All nine Bijuu were sealed into the statue and he could feel the malice and hatred being directed at him from the nine beasts at their single captor. He could feel the Kyuubi's rage at the betrayal and humiliation he had gone through by his hand. He could understand, if he had been stabbed in the back then sealed into a statue for eternity, he would be pretty pissed off too. But it hardly mattered now.

He went between the two hands of the statue, to the body of the Jinchuuriki. When he got there, he lifted the body, and cut its wrist, letting blood spill onto the floor. He took the blood and drew a circle with it, just within the circle's perimeter he wrote in blood, a circle of ancient runes, symbols by themselves twisting, nauseating to look upon, when formed together created a circle of glyphs.

He poured his chakra into the blood as he wrote, making it so that the perfection of the lines would not be marred as he worked. He took of the ten rings, placing them into another circle within the circle of bloody runes, so that the edges of the ten symbols on the rings were just touching. Then he stepped out of the circle and formed a long, fast series of handseals, and when he was finished, he placed his hands upon the circle and it flashed with an unholy light that filled the cavern. He worked quickly and before long, it was done.

The bloody circle was gone, as were the runes and the rings. The only thing there was a single iron bracelet. There was a blood red circle upon the bracelet, the kanji for 'Hell' upon it in black ink. He walked over and put the bracelet on his right wrist and he felt it as the ring of iron shifted, fitting itself to his arm, making it fit perfectly upon its master.

He knew that the rings controlled the statue and the ten rings shared control over it. The statue now held incredible power. He could maintain control over it by having just the ten rings yes, but he couldn't risk that one day he might lose a ring for some reason. The solution he came up with was simple, combine the rings into one. He destroyed the material that formed the ten rings, took their power and put it all into a single vessel, which was the iron of the rings, melted and forged into a new shape. Now whoever wore the bracelet controlled the statue, and everything inside of it. He had made sure that it would only accept one master, and he had made sure that it was him.

They would have to kill him in order to take the bracelet from him and he would make sure that that would never happen. He dismissed the statue, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He turned to leave the cavern, leaving the body of the Hachibi container on the ground, forgotten. He had an appointment with an old man to keep.

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Chimera's designated meeting point

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It was the cold that woke him. He had no idea what happened. He tried to remember, desperately 'How did I get here?' Then it all came back in a flash, his meeting with Tsunade, his journey to Amegakure, his encounter with Hidan, and getting nailed over the head by Kakuzu. He couldn't believe that he had let himself get captured that easily.

'Well,' He thought 'If they think that I'll sit quietly they have got another thing coming.' Then he reached for his chakra, but he couldn't channel it. It just slipped through his fingers; he couldn't gather it to use a jutsu, any jutsu. He had no idea what was going on. Then he started to notice his surroundings.

There was no light whatsoever, he was in complete darkness. He was upright, clothed only in the long pants he wore normally. His hands were bound above his head, his feet were bound above the round, and both were tied by ropes which tied him to a wooden stake, under a constant stream of cold water, which explained his predicament with chakra.

He had heard about this before, it was a method Takigakure used to hold ninja prisoners. Charge up a lot of water with chakra and pour it in a constant stream over a bound prisoner's head. The chakra in the water would attract any chakra the bound person tried to call up, absorb it into the water and then carry it with the water. It made it completely impossible to use any Ninjutsu of Genjutsu whatsoever; he was helpless as long as he was tied to the stake. It didn't help that his head was throbbing from the blow to the back of the head he got earlier, nor the great pain the cold from the water was causing him combined with the immense pain of having his shoulders and chest bear the weight of his entire body without support. It was an extremely painful position to be in, all that and he was hungry as hell. All he could do, at that moment was wait for whoever it was that wanted to see him to show up. He didn't have to wait for very long.

Within ten minutes of Jiraiya's waking up, the door opened and two people stepped inside. They were Kage Bunshins of Chimera. They were both carrying torches which they inserted into grooves in the walls before dispersing into the air, their task complete. Jiraiya looked around the room. It wasn't very impressive; the ceiling was dirt and stone, as were the walls and floor. He concluded that he must be in some underground chamber.

At least now he knew that it was indeed his old sensei, Chimera, who had arranged this little meeting, he idly wondered when he would show up.

As soon as he thought that, Chimera appeared in the door, in the attire he wore before he became a member of Akatsuki. He wore the white robe he saw him wear before he left Konoha, hood and all.

Jiraiya was suddenly flooded with fear, he knew just how strong Chimera was, if the crater outside of Tanzaku-Gai was any indication. He stood before the man who single-handedly murdered some of the most powerful people in the world and he was helpless.

Jiraiya decided that, regardless of his fear, he should try to fish for information, knowledge was power and he might find out something that would be useful if he survived.

Chimera just looked at his old student and smirked underneath his mask, knowing just what he was thinking, which he found amusing. He simply looked at him and said "It has been a long time Jiraiya."

Jiraiya could not bring himself to say anything; he had no idea what to do.

Chimera looked a bit disappointed at the lack of a response. He said to him "Now Jiraiya is that **any way to respond to your sensei after being **apart for almost three years? Answer me, how have things been in Konoha?"

Jiraiya stayed silent, not wanting to give Konoha's worst enemy in history any information to use against them.

Chimera sighed and said "Jiraiya, don't be childish, I would rather not make this into a trip to the dentist if I could avoid it you know."

Jiraiya could not stay silent any longer, in a verbal battle he was outmatched, but he had to try. "I'm just wondering here, what kind of dentist do you go to anyway to get teeth like that?" He said, nodding his head at the lengthened teeth of Chimera's mask. He continued on "So, what's the places name? Ortho de Sade, Smokin' Joe Mengele, DDS?" Chimera just watched him, a slight amusement in his eyes.

Another clone walked in, pushing a room service cart like they used in hotels. The clone pushed the cart to the middle of the room and unfolded a small table and a steel folding chair in front of it, where the water couldn't splash on it. Jiraiya eyed the cart warily; he expected that when it opened, it would reveal all sorts of tools with interesting torture applications.

Chimera said "Jiraiya, may I be frank with you?"

Jiraiya, true to form said "If it's alright with Frank I guess I don't mind."

Chimera stayed silent for a moment and said "Honestly you haven't changed in the slightest, how you have survived all these years is beyond me. **You have defeated a great many powerful people Jiraiya, I **would really expect you to be more mature since you know exactly what that water is doing. Personally though, I would consider it a compliment."

Jiraiya shook his head to get some of the freezing water out of his eyes and said "Yeah, you're WAY too kind."

Chimera smirked under his mask, while the clone opened the cart, and something far more diabolical than torture implements lied within. It was breakfast. The clone acting as a valet unfolded a white cloth and threw it over the table as Chimera sat down and took off his mask, taking down his hood as well as the valet clone started serving the food.

There were hash browns, some cheese, some toast and butter, some fruit, pancakes, bacon, ham, sausages, and coffee. Ye Gods, hot coffee. Even tied to a stake, underneath freezing water, Jiraiya's stomach started crawling around inside his abdomen, trying to find a way out to get some food. The clone poured some coffee and added some cream, no sugar as Chimera ate a piece of toast. He brushed the crumbs from his lips and said "I agree, I should have bound you more harshly, Hidan was a bit lax on the restraints."

Jiraiya stopped beating around the bush and asked "Chimera, tell me, what is the point of all this? Why did you kill the Akatsuki?"

Chimera took a sip of coffee and closed his eyed in enjoyment. The Bastard.

He then looked at Jiraiya and said "I take it this is the portion of the conversation where I reveal my plans to you? I take it you also expect me to inform you about any vulnerabilities I may have as well. I am a bit wounded by the lack of professional respect this implies." Then he took another sip of coffee.

Jiraiya just said "Chicken."

Chimera ate a strip of the bacon and then he said "It is enough for you to know that one of two things will happen."

Jiraiya said "And what would those be?"

Chimera looked at him and said "Either you will be freed and enjoy a nice breakfast, or…." At this he indicated a slightly curved knife by his right hand "**Or I will cut your throat as soon as I finish eating.**"

He said it scary, without any melodrama whatsoever. Matter of fact. Like someone would say that he needed to take out the trash.

"Ye old 'Join up of Die' ultimatum, man no matter how many times I hear that one it never gets old."

Chimera refilled his coffee and said "It's unavoidable I'm afraid, you're too strong to leave alive."

Jiraiya said "I'm really inconvenient that way, don't take it personally."

"I don't." He assured me "This isn't easy for either of us, I would use some psychological technique on you, but I haven't caught up on some of the more recent developments." Then he looked thoughtful and said "Then again, I don't suppose many psychologists can drive chariots, so perhaps it balances out. There are two chairs here Jiraiya, are you sure you don't want some?"

Jiraiya was about to tell him exactly what he could do with his third chair, but the smell of food stopped him. The water got colder. He asked "What did you have in mind?" Chimera nodded to his clone who picked up a scroll and opened it in front of Jiraiya. It was a chakra contract, a contract that you signed in blood that, if you broke it, would kill you. He read it over quickly and it was basically a pledge of eternal loyalty to Chimera.

He mimed a gasp and said "You like me, you really like me. You really think that I will sign this?"

Chimera ate some more of his toast and said "You don't have to if you don't want to, it is your choice, but I think that you will, I know you. Better than you know yourself."

"Do not."

"I do." Chimera took another sip of coffee, clearly enjoying seeing Jiraiya struggle.

Jiraiya merely said "Such as what?"

Chimera looked at him and said "Such as why you obtain great wealth and hardly ever spend a bit of it on yourself, giving it to Konoha to stimulate their falling missions instead, which should be picking up soon, now that Akatsuki is gone."

Jiraiya said "Okay, if you know me so well, why do I do so?"

Chimera looked Jiraiya straight in the eye and said "It is because you are ruled by fear, you are afraid Jiraiya."

Jiraiya snorted and said "Afraid of what?"

"You are afraid of what you could be if you ever let yourself stray from the right hand path, of the power you could obtain and use. You have thought about what it might be like to bend the world to your will, the things you could have. The people you could control. You have considered what it would be like to use your abilities to take what you wish and some part of you has found joy in that thought. You are afraid of that joy and so you attempt to drive yourself towards martyrdom instead. Living in cheap hotel upon cheap hotel, when you could afford an entire castle to call your own."

Jiraiya looked downward and said "Everyone has thoughts like that sometimes."

Chimera leaned back in his chair and said "No, they don't. Most people have no sure way of grasping that kind of power, the thought never even crosses their minds. But for you, it's different. You may pretend to be like them, but you are not."

Jiraiya looked upwards and said "That's not true!"

"Of course it is. You might not like to admit it, but it makes it no less true. It's denial. There are a number of ways you express it in your life. You don't like to see what you are, so you have very few pictures of yourself, no mirrors either."

Jiraiya ground his teeth and said "I'm not different in any way that matters, we all put our pants on one leg at a time."

"Granted but a century from now, your mortal associates will be dead and rotting in the Earth, whereas, barring amputation or radical shifts in fashion, you will still be putting your pants on one leg at a time. All these allies and friends you have made will be gone, while you will just be beginning to come into your full strength. You may pretend to be like any other mortal Jiraiya, but you aren't one."

Jiaiya just looked at him and said "What are you talking about 'a century from now'? I won't live anywhere near that long."

Chimera glared at him and said "Don't give me that bullshit! I know the truth Jiraiya. About how you became the strongest of the Sannin over time. I don't know how, but I know more or less what happened."

Jiraiya looked at him, a bit of fear in his eyes and said "What are you talking about?"

"Don't act dumb, you know what I am talking about. Before Orochimaru left the village, when all three of you were in your prime, you were the weakest of the three. Somehow, you managed to stop aging. You stayed at your peak and used a Genjutsu to like Tsunade's to change your appearance. Only unlike hers, yours makes you look older instead of younger, so that you don't raise suspicion. That is why you have been the strongest of the three for the last twenty years or so. Age sapped Orochimaru's and Tsunade's strength, while you kept yours. If either of them fought you while they were at their peak, they would wipe the floor with you. You haven't gotten any stronger either, your chakra capacity and muscle strength has remained content for decades, the only way you get stronger is through experience, because you are unable to make your body stronger.

Jiraiya seemed crushed "How did you know?" he asked and then the water washed away the powerful chakra fueling Jiraiya's Genjutsu. It was a testament to the illusion's strength that it lasted that long, most jutsus would be worn away almost immediately. Before Chimera's eyes, Jiraiya went from old buzzard to young man again.

Chimera merely said "It was obvious if you looked hard enough."

"Jiraiya," He said the word with something resembling compassion "I used to be much like you are now, I was trapped, I was lying to myself, you act like any other mortal because you are simply too terrified to admit that you aren't." He picked up the knife and said "I am afraid that I must ask for an immediate decision." The scroll with the contract written upon it was still offered out to him.

Jiraiya considered his options, if he signed that contract he would be bound to Chimera's forever. He would never be able to cross him for fear of dying, he would live, yes, but it would not be a true life. It would be the life of a puppet, nothing more. He made his decision.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, isn't that how it goes?" The clone closed the scroll and stepped backwards.

Chimera looked at Jiraiya and said "Are you certain, Jiraiya? This is your very last chance."

Jiriay slumped, here didn't seem to be much point in bravado anymore, he had made his call and he was going to stick to it. "I'm certain, fuck off."

Chimera ate one more piece of toast and finished his coffee and then stood, and picked up the knife. He said "Well, I suppose that I've had enough breakfast." There was a blur of motion and Chimera stood just behind Jiraiya, his throat opened.

Jiraiya felt the burning line on his throat, under the cold water, there was dizziness and cold, weakness fading into warmth that became perfect endless darkness, and then… Peace.

Chimera left the knife on the table and took the scroll from the clone, which then dispersed. He set a timed explosive on the wall and said in the darkness "I am very disappointed, my apprentice." Then he put on his mask and left the room. Five minutes later, the bomb exploded, caving in the chamber, and serving as the Sannin's burial.

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And that is chapter 22, I hope you guys enjoyed it; I think that it's the longest chapter in while. Read, Review, and Enjoy

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	23. Chapter 23

Hey, how's it going all of you

Hey, how's it going all of you? In case you wee wondering, this is indeed Naruto the Chimera chapter twenty-three, you can exhale that held in breath. Now then before I begin I shall respond to a review or two, don't get used to this, I won't do it often.

Vilkath: At least one person saw what I was trying to convey with that scene, and thank you for the consistently long reviews, I always look forward to them when I post a chapter.

Darkwrite: He won't really need a bargaining chip with what's coming up, also thanks for all the positive reviews thus FAR.

I don't normally respond to reviews, but these two just stand out and they deserve answers to their questions. Don't expect me to do this every chapter, or very often, I won't.

Now then, without further meaningless babble, I present, to you, the fanfiction masses, Naruto the Chimera, Chapter 23! Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything I use, save for my own ideas, they are mine and mine alone, so all you lawyers can go and boil yer heads!

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Summary of the last chapter

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Hidan and Kakuzu joined Naruto and on his orders kidnapped Jiraiya.

Konoha was informed of Chimera's betrayal of the Akatsuki by Jiraiya.

Chimera sealed the last Bijuu into the King of Hell Statue and melded the ten Akatsuki rings into a bracelet, the wearer of which controls the statue and therefore the Bijuu, which Chimera now wears at all times.

Chimera offers Jiraiya a place by his side and reveals the secret of Jiraiya's strength. After being refused his offer, Chimera slit Jiraiya's throat and left him there. Destroying the room behind him as he left with a timed explosive.

Now that you are all brought up to date on the story line, let the chapter begin

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With Chimera

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Chimera stepped out of the basement in which they held Jiraiya; it was nothing more than a big hole in the ground that Chimera prepared for the meeting with a few Doton jutsu before he killed the Akatsuki. Hidan and Kakuzu were waiting for him outside.

Hidan asked "How did the meeting go, Chimera-Sama?"

Underneath his mask, Chimera scowled "Less than well, unfortunately. I am most disappointed in my apprentice, but then again, Konoha's propaganda is difficult to beat when it comes to making people believe you. It's one of the few things that they're really good at, that and internal politics. They can't do much else. They don't have many good ninja, but they brainwash all of them into believing their self-righteous crap. And they wonder why most of their most powerful ninja leave the village eventually."

Kakuzu asked "So, what do we do now?"

Chimera glanced at the large man, or whatever Kakuzu really is. "Right now, we prepare. You both know my plans and I have decided to acquire some more help, it will make things go more smoothly in the long run. I will also bestow upon you two a few abilities to help you with your respective weaknesses."

Normally at such a comment, either of them would have gotten indignant, but not with Chimera. He was simply too powerful to piss off lightly. Konoha's biggest mistake ever.

Hidan, being the ever-curious one, had to ask. "How are you going to do that, Chimera-Sama?"

Chimera glanced at the albino Jashin priest and said "Easily, it's time you two saw my home for yourselves."

Chimera stepped away from the two and lifted his right sleeve; there on his inner forearm was the kanji for 'sword'. Chimera bit his thumb and ran his blood across the symbol, and a puff of smoke later, there was a sword in his right hand. He merely said "My black blade, Mukuro."

The sword was, well ordinary. It was an old fashioned English broadsword made of steel, it was about four feet long from end to end, the blade being exactly three feet long before it met the cross guard that separated blade from handle. The cross guard was about a foot long from side to side. Then it extended into a hilt exactly one foot long, made of steel and covered in blood-red cloth. The only adornment was a large, cut gem in the middle of the cross guard, right where the blade and handle met. It was very large, about the size of a pigeon egg that was a deep, light-absorbing black.

It was unremarkable at first glance, but you could feel something that was simply _off_ about the sword. There was an uneasy feeling of dread that entered the stomachs of the two former Akatsuki members when they looked at that sword, something was wrong, but they couldn't tell exactly what.

There were only one oddity about the blade and that was when light reflected off the sword, it was black instead of the normal bright golden color that sunlight is. Then Chimera moved into the forest, sword and hand and they realized something. The sword was not reflecting black light as they thought. It was emitting it. The sword glowed with darkness, and absorbed any light that came in contact with it.

They noticed that everything near Chimera, no near the _sword_ withered and died. Plants and trees shriveled and their leaves turned brown and fell off, insects and animals dropped where they stood as they came near that cursed sword. The air thrummed in vibration with its movement. They could not explain what caused it, only that the sword caused death to whoever got near it, and it was further testament to Chimera's power that he could wield that sword without dying.

Chimera stopped and sliced the air in front of him. Behind it, the sword left a bright yellow line that stayed in the air, shimmering slightly.

"What is that?" Hidan asked.

Chimera simply replied "A cut into the third dimension itself. This sword can cut, literally, through _anything_, no questions asked." Chimera rapidly made three more cuts into the air, creating a rectangle.

Before their eyes, the space inside that rectangle faded, leaving a bright red abyss behind. "Follow me." He said to them, and then stepped inside. Hidan and Kakuzu, dazed, followed Chimera into the ether.

Behind them, the portal vanished, the lines fading into nothing as the world healed itself, leaving no evidence that they were even there.

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Konoha

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Uchiha Sasuke was pissed, he was beyond pissed. How DARE that FREAK, that NOBODY, take away his purpose! How DARE that bastard kill Itachi!? It was HIS revenge, Itachi was HIS to kill, nobody else!

Needless to say, this had been going on ever since the announcement was made that Chimera had killed every last member of the Akatsuki in one fell swoop. At first there was celebration, the greatest threat to them was gone! Without the Akatsuki offering missions at lower prices than the villages could afford to charge, people were starting to bring the higher difficulty missions that would demand an A or S-Rank back to the hidden villages.

The massive recession was starting to come to a halt and life was being breathed back into the village. Not only here, but in every hidden village around the world, people could rest assured that their homes wouldn't collapse due to lack of employment, it was due cause for celebration, things were going back to as close to normal as things can get in any hidden village.

Then people realized a horrible truth. Chimera was still alive and two of the more dangerous Akatsuki were working together with him. They all knew who Chimera was. They didn't know who he REALLY was, only Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the village council knew that, but they knew that he was a missing-nin from their village and that he was the one who had been steadily killing off everyone he met from any village. They saw that yes, the Akatsuki for all intents and purposes was no more, the remaining members were three of the five most powerful people in the world, and the only ones who could dare stand against them were Jiraiya and Tsunade, and they weren't sure the two of them could beat the remaining three Akatsuki when it eventually came to that.

Then things got a bit worse for the village of Konohagakure. They found Jiraiya's body three days ago. Tsunade had found him with a seal the Sandaime put on both Jiraiya and Tsunade after Orochimaru's defection, in case he ever needed to find them in a hurry. She activated the seal and she found Jiraiya's location, but she found nothing other than a corpse with its throat cut. One of the village's two most powerful ninja was killed and they knew that it was Chimera; it was his style and who else could have hoped to kill one of the Sannin?

To top it all of in Tsunade's case, not only was the Uchiha practically PMSing because Chimera killed Itachi, but the council, in all of its wisdom, has started petitioning Tsunade to teach the technique stealing little bastard. She denied them outright of course. They managed to pressure and bribe her into teaching that dumb Haruno slut what she knew and that was one apprentice that she was GLAD to have murdered. She was a poor excuse of a ninja. She had excellent chakra control, yes, but absolutely nothing else.

Still, despite everything, the Akatsuki's destruction, the gradual recovery of the economy, everything, people were still gripped in fear, and Gennin were still lucky to see outside of the village's walls for fear of their lives. The message was still there, Chimera's message of death carved into the Hokage Monument. People knew that the most powerful enemy their village had ever made was still out there, still ready to strike, they all knew that it would happen eventually, but they acted calm while the enemy prepared, off in the unknown.

Tsunade dreaded the day that Chimera finally attacked; she knew that it would be the day of her death and the death of the village. Despite Tsunade's dread, the local idiot Uchiha looked forward to fighting Chimera and paying him back for killing Itachi, and he was being trained by what few Jounin they had left in preparation for that day.

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Chimera's location, Hell

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Hidan and Kakuzu stepped out of the swirling red energy and came face to face with another world. There was a lot of fire and brimstone, the overbearing heat of the place was amazing. They could hear the screams of tortured souls in the distance and demons roamed where they wished. Kakuzu idly noticed icicles in a few places and wondered what had happened in order to make Hell freeze over.

They looked for Chimera and they saw him nearby, sword already sealed away, and he was talking to a demon like he was an old friend. It was quite awe-inspiring. Eight feet tall and charcoal grey, he looked over at the two. They noticed the two horns on his head, the corded muscles, and the clawed hands and feet, the bony wings folded behind its back, it wore surprising attire for a demon. They thought that demons would be wearing little more than a loincloth, if anything at all, but apparently the day was not meant for stereotypes. The demon was wearing a fucking business suit and a rather nice one too.

Chimera called them over and said "Hidan, Kakuzu, this is Mephistopheles, an old friend of mine. You may have heard of him, he is a bit famous being an Archduke of Hell and all." The two shakily nodded towards the demon, he nodded back and said to them in a surprisingly normal voice "Nice to meet you both." He then turned back to Chimera and said "Okay, four hundred souls in exchange for the two you want, agreed?" Chimera nodded and said "Done, I will have them wired to your account, do you want anyone in particular?" The demon shook his head and said "No thanks, you only have two souls worth anything on their own and I know you won't give them up any time soon." Then they shook hands and the demon went off.

Hidan and Kakuzu simply stared, they were speechless. Chimera merely nodded to them and said "Come on." Then he walked off, the other two followed closely behind, neither wanting to be lost in Hell. They saw a great many disturbing things, sure there was a lot of fire and heat, but other than that things were, well, normal. There were merchants offering goods, the occasional restaurant, offices etc. The only disconcerting thing was that instead of people, everything was done by demons. That and the merchants were yelling "SOULS FOR SALE, HALF PRICE UNTIL TUESDAY, GET THEM NOW WHILE YOU CAN!!" And the restaurants were serving a great many meats that you wouldn't find in most black markets, extinct animals and more than a little human.

Speaking of humans, there weren't any. Kakuzu, finding this odd, asked Chimera where they were.

"They are all in the human section, the torture rooms and other such places. When humans first show up, their souls go to the highest bidder, unless someone has a claim upon their soul beforehand contracts and all that. **Other than that though, the more they sin, the higher the price. The one who wins the auction gets the soul of the person in question, and they are theirs to do with as they wish. The more souls you have, the higher you are regarded** among other demons, especially high profile ones like that Hitler guy, or Stalin. The Yondaime Hokage's soul went for a fortune, but since all ninja are immense sinners by nature, that happens with every ninja that comes through here, especially the powerful ones."

The two ex-Akatsuki members had no idea that the eternal damnation of sinners was so organized, it almost seemed tidy.

Chimera continued on "We have two stops today, the first is to complete the deal with Mephistopheles after he gets the contract written up, and we have to stop by the tunnel opening to pick up a few souls I have a claim to, seven actually."

Hidan and Kakuzu watched in wonder as they walked into what appeared to be a bank, a fucking soul bank, and they met with the demon from before, who had a contract with him. He also had two black spheres with him, clutched in one hand. If you listened closely, you could hear screaming.

Chimera read over the contract very carefully. People joke about signing away your soul or your firstborn, but in Hell, it could happen. Nobody signed a contract without reading it over at least twice. Seemingly satisfied, Chimera moved his mask slightly and bit his thumb, signing his name at the bottom, right below another signature that must have belonged to the other demon. Chimera rolled up the contract and gave it back to Mephistopheles, then he went over to a nearby table and rapidly wrote a fucking check for, and I quote 'Four hundred souls of slightly below average quality, to be paid to the bearer.' He handed this to Mephistopheles who, after making sure that it was authentic, put it in his pocket, along with the contract, which shrank in order to easily fit, and gave Chimera the two spheres. The two nodded and the demon walked away.

Chimera put the spheres, now recognized as souls into a pouch and said to the two "Come on." And then swiftly walked off, the other two trailing behind him.

Before long they came into the section of Hell where the human souls were left to the public, these ones were ones that no one wanted and were left for whoever showed up to torture for a few hours for a small price. They saw the auction, at which they saw Hyuuga Neji being sold. He was listed as a 'slightly above average specimen.' Within about five minutes he was sold off to a lecherous looking male demon. Doubtless Neji will be having fun for all eternity, but knowing Neji and what was probably going to happen by the look on that demon's face, maybe the Hyuuga prick actually WOULD.

Before long they came up to a desk marked with a sign saying 'Pre-death Claims' where Chimera told the demon who he was and after signing a few papers, was given a small case which, when opened, revealed seven black spheres. The demon whistled and said "Seven souls of Extremely High quality, you really made a killing on whatever deal you made, Chimera-Sama." Chimera simply nodded and took the case.

Before long they were back at the bank, where Chimera made a deposit of five of the seven souls he received, taking the other two with him. Before long, they were at the place where they crossed into Hell in the first place where at last Chimera said "Okay, its time for that help I told you two about." With that Chimera took out the two souls he received from the 'Pre-Death Claim' desk and charged some Chakra into them, and to the immortal duo's shock, the souls grew into two familiar figures, Deidara and Sasori!

Chimera made a deal with them both. They would serve him and they would gain new powers, in return, he didn't torture them for all eternity, it seemed fair enough in everyone's opinion. When they agreed upon it, Deidara shook Chimera's hand and what happened shocked the other three ex-Akatsuki members. Deidara's clothing changed. When before it had been what it was before he died, the standard Akatsuki cloak, before their eyes it changed into armor, hood, and cloak, all of a deep rich blue, it also came with a mask.

He did the same with Sasori, granting him all of the puppets he had in life as well as a new outfit, when the change was complete, he was in Hiruko again, hunchbacked as ever, in an outfit the same as Deidara's only instead of an ocean deep blue, it was of a dark red color.

Chimera turned upon Hidan and Kakuzu and said "It is time I granted you the powers I said I would bestow. I said already that you two had weaknesses and these will prevent this. Unlike the two behind me, you are both still mortal and alive, but you have felt death so you can take this power which no other living mortal can grasp." At this he held out one of the two spheres he obtained from Mephistopheles and said "Hidan, eat this, it is the soul of a man once know as Albedo Piazzola, he had regenerative powers beyond anything else, eat it and obtain this power." Hidan reached towards the sphere and after a small hesitation, ate it whole. There was no obvious change.

Until Chimera cut Hidan's head off and crushed it under foot. Imagine their surprise as Hidan head grew back as quickly as it went a look of shock upon his own features. Chimera smirked under his mask and said "No longer will you be incapacitated by decapitation, you are now unstoppable to all but the most powerful. You can only die through complete obliteration, you will be able to heal yourself and regenerate your body from even a single cell. Welcome aboard." Chimera then held out his hand, which Hidan shook and a change like before happened, unlike Sasori's and Deidara's clothing though, Hidan's outfit was pure white.

Chimera turned to Kakuzu and held out the other soul saying "This soul belonged to a man named Erich Weber, though he was more often known as Voyager." Getting the message, Kakuzu lowered his mask and ate the soul; once again there was no obvious change. Then Chimera punched Kakuzu, or tried. He was stopped by an invisible force field. Chimera took back his hand and said "Voyager could bend space to his will, telekinesis and the like, as well as this impenetrable shield. It can only be broken under special circumstances, but I can easily create those circumstances so do not cross me." Chimera then held out his hand, which Kakuzu took, and as before there was a change. Kakuzu was dressed like the rest, only his cloak, armor and mask were of deepest black.

Chimera addressed them all and said "Now that we are prepared, we shall enter our previous world, my Riders of Armageddon, my four Testaments. **(1)**

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(1) I don't own Xenosaga

Alright, that is chapter twenty three complete. I hope you guys liked it. If you guys are wondering about the new outfits, I know I wasn't specific, but I don't know how to describe them. They are dressed the same as the four Testaments from the Xenosaga series so look it up on Youtube of Google of something, sorry I can't be of more help on that one. Oh and in case you are wondering, the other five souls he got were Itachi's, Kisame's, Pein's, Konan's, and Madara's. The two he had already, well I will let you guys guess, but one was a Cyclops and the other was known as Yondaime for the later period of his life, take a guess on who they are.

Any way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless of my lack of detail near the end and the lack of a fight, that won't be the case next chapter, I guarantee. See you later.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	24. Chapter 24

Greetings, one and all, welcome to Naruto the Chimera, chapter twenty four

Greetings, one and all, welcome to Naruto the Chimera, chapter twenty four. I hope you sincerely enjoy this chapter, as I will sincerely enjoy writing it!

I won't say what I have in mind, so without anything more, I bring you, with great pride, Naruto the Chimera, Chapter Twenty Four! Enjoy, and review at the end!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I use except for my own original ideas.

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Basic Summary of the last chapter

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Chimera brought Hidan and Kakuzu to Hell, where he granted them new powers as well as bringing the souls of Deidara and Sasori into his service, granting them new powers as well so long as they serve him. Giving them powers beyond mortal understanding, and new clothes, Chimera's four Testaments, his Riders of Armageddon, stand complete at last, prepared to carry out their master's orders. Oh, and Tsunade is tired of the village who is STILL all but wiping the Uchiha's ass for him. They are currently training him in hopes of him defeating Chimera. Delusional much? I really don't know.

Anyway, let the amazing and unforgettable twenty-fourth chapter begin!

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With Chimera and the Testaments, Hell

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Chimera stood before his sworn followers, the Testaments. Deidara in ocean blue, Sasori, in Hiruko, wearing dark bloody red, Hidan wearing stark white, and Kakuzu in darkest black, behind him was Hell in all its glory, fire, brimstone and all.

Deidara, the blue Testament asked "So, what exactly is the plan, yeah?"

Sasori looked at his partner when they were alive "He just told us you idiot!"

Chimera said to Sasori "Don't mind him Sasori, **it's understandable, the memory occasionally** degrades for a time after reclaiming a body." He turned to Deidara and said "As I said before, my goal is simple but lengthy. The complete extinction of all humanity, in our world and every other one."

Deidara looked surprised and said "But didn't you say that there were uncountable worlds in existence, completely eradicating every human in all of them would take millennia, wouldn't it yeah?"

Chimera looked at him and said "Yes, there are infinite worlds, but most of them **are uninhabitable to humans, so we can safely ignore those. Of those that do have humans in them, **they are the ones to take care of."

Hidan asked "So, how many worlds are we talking about here, ten, twenty?"

Chimera glanced at him and said "Thousands upon thousands."

Deidara said "See, I told you, it would take millennia!"

Chimera looked at him and said "Only if we went for every one of them."

Kakuzu looked confused, as did they all, so Chimera elaborated "There are thousands upon thousands of worlds inhabited by humans, yes, but most of them will take care of themselves in time."

Deidara asked the question all four wanted to know "What do you mean by that, yeah?"

Chimera glanced at him and said "They will eventually be wiped out without our help, have you ever heard of the apocalypse?"

The four nodded and Chimera continued "Most worlds will have an apocalypse and that will be that as far as humans in that world are concerned, we can ignore those too. **There are some worlds, however, that will not have a natural apocalypse, and the human race of that world would live on indefinitely. Those are the worlds** we will be taking care of. There aren't many of them, five or six of them at the most."

Sasori nodded and said "Let me guess, the world we once lived in is one of them."

Chimera looked at him and said "Actually no, the world we were born in will come to a natural end in about five thousand years by their time. We will be taking care **of that one though because the people there deserve it. Humanity itself is a corrupting cancer, destroying everything in comes in contact with given enough time, but that world is quite possibly** the worst I have ever seen. Then there is the other one that we will be taking care of later, which is even worse in its own way."

Hidan asked "Two questions, what you mean by 'their time' and what do you mean by 'the other one'?

Chimera looked at the white garbed man and said "In response to your first question, time travels true in Hell but it meanders elsewhere. For example, while we have only been in here for a few hours, it has been almost three days in our world since we left."

The four looked amazed and Deidara said "That's a pretty big time difference yeah."

Chimera shrugged and said "I have seen bigger. Once I left Hell for a year and came back fifteen minutes after I left. My coffee was still hot on my living room table. **Of course, I made that world my training room. Eight years of Hell time in there, do the math. It comes out to about 280,000 years** worth of honing my skills. Combine that with the fact that that particular world housed a deadly population of creatures and you can see how I got so strong."

The four looked amazed, this whole time they were working with and now for someone almost 300,000 years old!

Chimera continued on "As for the other one I mentioned, it is the other world with a natural apocalypse that we will be destroying."

Kakuzu asked "What is this world like?"

Chimera looked at the four and said "It is almost exactly like our own."

The four looked almost as surprised as they had before.

Chimera continued on "It has several differences though, aside from that it is almost exactly the same, there are all the same people there, everything. In that world, there are even copies of the five of us. However there are several differences. **One of the major ones is that my copy is borderline retarded. He's barely Chuunin level and he shouts 'Dattebayo!' at the end of almost every sentence. I cannot have someone like that live. Me killing him** is one of the major reasons we will destroy it."

Hidan asked "What kind of God made a world like that?"

Chimera said "Let me check." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll, opening it, he looked at it and recited "The world we are talking about was created by 'Misashimoto, God of shitty writing and retarded yaoi fanboys. (1)**' That explains a lot**." He put the scroll away and said "I will go over the details of my plan after the first world is destroyed**; in the meantime, we have work to do."**

Chimera unsealed his sword, Mukuro, once more and strode past the four, the deadly light not affecting them. He used the blade and created a doorway into the world they came from and stepped inside, the other four following behind him.

They arrived in the clearing they left in, and the portal sealed behind the fifth person to come through as Chimera sealed away his sword. He looked over to his Testaments and said "As for destroying this world, here's the plan…."

After twenty minutes, their plan was set, before they left though, Hidan asked one other question. "Hey, Chimera-Sama, what did those demons mean when they said 'High Quality souls'? What are the rankings?"

Chimera decided that he would humor him since he was in such a good mood he turned toward Hidan and said "It depends on how much they sinned in life. Extremely Low Quality Souls literally committed one sin too many, no one really buys them. Moderately Low Quality Souls were probably just annoying in life. Slightly Below Average Quality Souls are what most civilians are. Average Quality Souls are most small time criminals. Slightly Above Average Quality Souls are normal organized crime, politicians, phone company people, student loan people, and average ninja. Moderately Above Average Quality Souls are higher level ninja. Extremely High Quality Souls are real big time sinners, like you four."

Hidan asked "And that's as high as it goes?"

Chimera shook his head and replied "No, above those are Pure Souls, human souls that belong in Heaven, but are stuck in Hell, they are very rare. Even above those, however, are Angel's Souls, the soul of an Angel. You are lucky to see one once an eon. An Angel lured into delicious sin, Absolutely Priceless."

Hidan asked "Do you have any of those, Chimera-Sama?"

Chimera smiled at the Jashin priest and said "I have a number or Pure Souls in my collection, and I have the only Angel Soul to be found in Hell. It is what makes me top dog in Hell more or less."

Deidara said "I thought Satan ruled Hell."

Chimera looked at the bomb expert and said "Technically yeah, but it you have ever read 'Dante's Inferno' you'll know the truth about him. He's sealed in Hell's second level. **There are only two as opposed to nine as the book says. He technically rules Hell, but he can't do anything. It is we, the four Archdukes of Hell that really run things. Me, Mephistopheles, Grimlet, and Valvoga are the real decision makers of Down-below**, and I am the highest regarded of us four." (2)

The four were even more surprised, now they knew that they were actually working for the Devil behind the throne, so to speak.

Chimera nodded at them and said "Well, you four have your orders, get to them!" The four vanished, and Chimera did soon after.

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With Chimera, outside Konoha

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The moment had come, his Testaments were in position, and all the pre-work was done. The moment for Konoha's destruction was at hand. Over the years, all but the most powerful villages fell to lack of money and internal politics. Only the five main villages remained. One of his Testaments was positioned at each village. Hidan at Kirigakure, Sasori at Sunagakure, Deidara at Iwagakure, and Kakuzu at Kumogakure. This was to be a blitzkrieg. The five would attack once and make sure that it was a lethal stroke.

Chimera had already collapsed all of the secret escape tunnels underground, and sealed all of the shelters. The civilians would not escape the walls. His Testaments had taken similar precautions. At last the time had come; he created four Kage Bunshin and sent them out. When they reached the appropriate spots, they all did several handseals and called out "Shishi Enjin!" (Four violet flames formation)

As soon as they did, a massive box of purple chakra rose up and surrounded the entire village as well as the four clones, guaranteeing their safety and that of the barrier. Across the world, four identical barriers rose up over the other four targeted villages. There was no escape underground, and no escape above ground either. Everyone in the entire village was trapped and ready for the slaughter.

Chimera leapt to the top of Konoha's main gate and jumped down the other side, absentmindedly killing the two guards on duty. God, security was lax in this village, it really made Chimera wonder at how the others were defended if this one was considered 'the best'. He unsealed Mukuro, its dark aura surrounding him that would kill everything it came in contact with it except for any Jounin, ANBU and higher level Chuunin, they might be able to resist the effects for a while, and any Kage level ninja would be immune altogether. Chimera strolled into Konoha, in plain sight, whistling 'Twisted Nerve' (3) as he went, cutting into anyone and everyone he saw.

He slew anyone he saw with just his sword, savoring every drop of blood spilled upon the stone floor beneath him. Most people simply dropped dead the moment they were within a certain radius of his sword. It was very amusing to see young Chuunin and Genin all pumped up for a fight, their youth ensuring them that despite all odds, they would live forever, simply drop in place, shock in their eyes as they wondered how they died.

He used a special jutsu that detected human life to make sure that he didn't miss anyone More than once he slaughtered families in their homes, children in front of their parents and parents in front on children before turning on his audience, whistling the same haunting melody all the while. He was enjoying the terror, the disgust and the surrender to the inevitable in the faces of all of his victims and soon to be victims. He had no regrets in slaying any babies or the elderly or the sick. If he saw a human being, no matter their condition, young or old, sick or healthy, they died.

He had a lot of fun when he got to the hospital, slaughtering the sick and the weak was quite amusing. He laughed as they tried to crawl off of their beds to get away from their murderer. He killed a lot of the medical ninjas that were there.

While this was happening of course, he encountered a lot of ninja. There weren't many Jounin left, though there were plenty of ANBU. Their title didn't help them much though, steel, cloth, armor, jutsus, and flesh all parted before that cursed blade like a hot knife through soft butter. There were a few that amused him a bit. There was the man who, surprisingly, could perform the lost art of Mokuton jutsus. He was the toughest one he fought so far. He still didn't last very long. His tree branches and pillars of wood could not stop Mukuro's fell edge. It kind of helped that being anywhere near the sword made the plants wither and die. He didn't expect much of a challenge on this trip. The only real amusing fights would be against Tsunade and Sasuke. The others were just fun. Or that was what he thought at the time.

Before long he came across the Emo Uchiha, waiting for him in the Uchiha compound. What an idiot, he just stood there glaring at him. Chimera lowered his hood and removed his mask. He wanted the Uchiha to see his smile as he died. He glared at Chimera in anger, seeing the mockery and silent laughter directed at him from the eye of frozen ice and the other blood red, almost luminous sphere. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, confident that his bloodline would protect him. Instead of charging Chimera however, he asked a very interesting question. "Chimera, what is your real name?"

Chimera cocked his head to the side and said "What do you mean, Uchiha?"

Sasuke glared at him, Emo-Uchiha style and said "Chimera can't be your real name, what is it? I want to know the name of my victim."

Chimera smiled and said "You want to know the name of your killer, you mean? Very well I shall humor you." Chimera took a breath and said "I don't have any one real name." Sasuke looked confused so Chimera continued "All of those that I have devoured, I possess their memories too. In one set, a beautiful blue-eyed girl with an even more beautiful voice calls me Amshel Goldsmith. In another, people call me Toguro in rage and hatred. In yet another set I see a woman bow before me and call me Lord Nicodemus. In another, a white haired man I call Yeshua calls me Wilhelm, and there are so many more than just those. I have no one real name, Uchiha Sasuke, as I possess so many. The name of this body however, the name of the person I was until I had awoken to the world as it truly is, that name is Uzumaki Naruto." Chimera sealed away his sword, wanting to enjoy this, and waited for Sasuke to attack.

Sasuke drew his sword and said "Amshel, Toguro, Wilhelm, Nicodemus, Naruto, it doesn't really matter, whoever you might be, I WILL KILL YOU!" and with that the Uchiha charged at his most hated foe.

The battle did not last very long. The Uchiha went for s straight vertical slash right down the middle which was easily side-stepped and a punch to the stomach sent the Emo sprawling. Within moments, while Sasuke was stunned, Chimera used his creation jutsu to make chains around the Uchiha's limbs, binding him to the floor.

Chimera raised his right hand and at his command it split into thousands of fibers, no thicker than a thread. He stepped close to the Uchiha and willed the fibers forward. He had them penetrate his body, piercing the skin in hundreds of places, a few going down his throat and into his lungs and stomach, others stayed between the skin and muscle while their fellows dug and burrowed deep into the muscles themselves. Still others went past the muscles and twined around the bones. None of the fibers went into his head though or near his heart. Then all at once, each and every fiber sprouted incredibly thin and incredibly sharp, three inch long spikes all the way down their length, piercing bone and flesh and non-vital organs alike. Then, careful not to inflict any instantly fatal wounds, Chimera slowly dragged the fibers back out of his opponent's body. The spikes gouged at bone and tore through muscle, tearing apart the skin and savaging his organs. By the time Chimera had drawn out all of the fibers and reformed his hand, Uchiha Sasuke was a bloody, panting mess, his voice hoarse from screaming so loud for so long.

Chimera leaned down close and whispered into the Uchiha's ear "This just goes to show Sasuke, a pair of eyes can not save you, or anyone, nor can a clan name, or your pride. As I said years ago, you have nothing but a dead family, an extinct clan as of today. Farewell Uchiha Sasuke, and farewell to the Uchiha Clan. I can promise you this much, **I WILL SEE YOU IN HELL!"** With that, Chimera reached forward and ripped out Sasuke's eyes in one vicious motion, ripping through flesh to grasp the bloody spheres. He looked at the famous eyes in his hand before looking down at the blind and screaming Uchiha. He shoved the eyes down his throat, loving the sound of him choking on his own blood and the eyes he was always so proud of, he hoped the Uchiha enjoyed his last meal as he reached down and shoved his hand into his abdomen, piercing the abdominal wall and reaching up into the chest cavity, loving the screams and wishing he had a recorder with him as he grasped the Uchiha's heart and ripped it out.

He glanced at the muscle he ripped out of his ex-teammate's chest before gagging him with it. Then he watched as the Uchiha died, his own screams of fear and agony muffled by his own heart used as a gag. He left the body there, chained to the floor as he went searching for more victims.

He continued on his killing spree, sword's aura devouring most people, the only exceptions being the stronger ninja. He killed a few people he knew, there was the old Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and the entire Hyuuga Clan as he assaulted their compound, which was very fun, and he particularly enjoyed the young heiress, Hanabi's, screams and those of her father. He continued onward until he found a few old acquaintances in his path. Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, and Ebisu stood before him, fearing for their lives. He wondered quickly whether or not he should kill the kid because his grandfather was the Sandaime, but overruled his doubt with his overwhelming will and strode forward, quickly ramming his blade into Ebisu's throat, the three young Gennin dying from mere proximity to the sword.

He continued on with his fun, murdering everyone he met, until he came across Iruka. He was a bit surprised that the Chuunin wasn't affected by the sword; only Kage level ninja should be able to do that. It couldn't be….

Iruka said to him "It has finally come to this Chimera."

He nodded to the teacher and said "Yes, who would have guessed that on that day, those children met their murderer?" Iruka nodded and said "Even though you were once a Konoha ninja, I must stop your MADNESS!" And with that he leapt forward at amazing speed and in Chimera's surprise, got him right in the jaw. Despite his strength, Chimera was very light, and he went soaring back.

Chimera caught his balance and said, genuinely confused "Only a Kage level ninja should be able to shake off my sword's affects, how are you doing it?"

Iruka flashed him a fighting grin and said "You don't think that the Council would let new ninja be taught by a normal Chuunin, do you?" and he rushed forward.

Chimera met his speed saying "You did a rather crappy job!" Before punching him right in the solar plexus, sending him backwards. He might have to take Iruka seriously.

Iruka landed on his feet and quickly closed the gap between the two, aiming for his throat with a kunai.

Chimera's sword sliced through the metal of the knife and he performed a number of one-handed seals, blowing a 'Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu' right into Iruka's face from point-blank range. Iruka Kawarimi'd and got out of the way to avoid being scorched and/or melted, hiding in a tree. And falling into Chimera's trap. He had ensnared Iruka in a Genjutsu and made him believe that the numerous explosive notes on the tree weren't there He didn't notice the battle was over until his body was in pieces and his soul went to who know where.

Chimera sighed thinking 'What a disappointment.' He glanced around and thought 'Not many people left, only ones still alive now are Tsunade, Shizune, the Council, and their ANBU in the Hokage Tower.' So without further thought, Chimera turned toward the distant building and moved towards it at incredible speed.

For the most important building in the village, the place wasn't very heavily guarded, only two ANBU at the door were guarding the tower, and there were two more outside the council chambers and Tsunade's office, Shizune was with Tsunade. Two ANBU fall surprisingly quickly. Within five minutes he was before the council chambers, the last of the civilians inside as well as Danzo and one of the last three ANBU in the village, Sai. He sealed his sword, he knew he wouldn't need it for this, and kicked the door down, military style and lunged through, killing Sai with a broken neck and breaking Danzo's other arm half a second later. He stood before the Council, all of them shivering in fear. He simply looked at them all, the same dark grin on his face as when he killed Sasuke. He hadn't put on his mask since then either, and they all looked at him in fear, especially at his right eye. Then, since he was pressed for time, he killed them all with the normal slashing blade of wind and prepared a trap to take down Tsunade. He created a Kage Bunshin and sent it up to the Hokage's office where it looked like the two ANBU, Shizune and Tsunade were preparing to make a last stand. As the clone left he used the third gift of Kyuubi, his psychic territory, which expanded around the chamber. He could choose the effects when he first got it and he chose something he had heard Kyuubi mention once, with a few improvements. He sensed as the Kage Bunshin rushed the office, killing both guards and Shizune in seconds and allowing Tsunade to chase the clone towards the chambers. The clone prepared and cast a Genjutsu over Tsunade as it ran, preparing the trap. The room was all his territory and as Tsunade entered the Hall, the clone dispersed, but the Genjutsu convinced Tsunade that he ran into the Council Chamber. He said under his breath, as Tsunade neared the door….

_Follow the rules, both host and guest_

_Speak not the words I write on this list_

_I hope the words mean naught to you_

_For every one is now Taboo._

As Chimera spoke the words, weaving his spell, he wrote the following words on a piece of paper in front of him: Dan, bastard, heartless, forgive. Then he took control of the illusion over Tsunade as she opened the door and unknowingly stepped into Chimera's territory.

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Tsunade POV

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She stepped into the room, searching for the bastard that had taken everything from her, searching for Chimera, she saw him enter the Council chambers, she knew that he was here. But what she saw completely surprised her.

It was Dan, her lover, her fiancée, the love of her life standing beyond the door. Her breath caught as she saw the familiar white hair and kind eyes, but what he said contradicted that kindness. "You are pathetic, Tsunade." He said and her heart almost stopped.

"I can not believe you could become Hokage. I was glad that you did, but I am ashamed of how bad a job you have done. The village is destroyed, everyone is dead, the only one still alive is you, because that is the only person you ever cared about." Tsunade could not speak, how could this be real? But, real or not, it was still tearing her apart inside and gulping down the pieces. She could only listen as her lover in life went on. "How could someone so weak and pathetic ever become Hokage? Someone so weak and pathetic that they couldn't even save someone they supposedly care about? Hah, you were more suited to be some housewife than a medical ninja; I can not believe I ever felt anything for you, you FAILURE!" Tsunade's anger boiled over and overrode her grief and heartache from her love's words.

She yelled out as she slammed her fist into the illusion, causing it to dissipate "Dan, SHUT UP!" Then the illusion was over. She looked around and saw Chimera sitting in the Hokage's Council chair, a paper before him with the word 'Dan' in red written upon it. He merely said "Fool." And held out his hand. A blue aura played around her body and she felt something tear out of her, and then she knew no more.

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Chimera POV

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He held Tsunade's soul in his hand. It was a bright gold. 'A Pure Soul, that is certainly unexpected.' He thought, 'I hope this doesn't disagree with me, hope you enjoy being part of me Tsunade.' And with that thought, he opened his mouth, and swallowed Tsunade's soul. He felt a twinge of pain as the memories settled and he recalled everything Tsunade knew about medical jutsu and her super strength. Then after making sure he could use them both, he left the slaughtered village no one left alive, and went to meet his Testaments at the agreed upon spot.

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6 Months Later

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It was done. Through the use of poisoned wells, burned fields, and spreading specially made viruses, the entire human population on the planet read zero.

Kakuzu asked Chimera "Now what Chimera-Sama?"

Chimera glanced at the large, black-clothed man and said "Now we go back to Hell and destroy those Apocalypse-less worlds before turning on this world's twin. All in its time, there is no reason to be impatient."

Then he turned and carved a rectangle into the air with his sword, opening a portal to Hell and the five of them stepped inside, leaving behind a world of the dead.

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(1) No prizes for guessing who this refers to

(2) I doubt anyone will guess where these two originate from, here's a challenge, if you can accurately guess where these two came from (They're two different places) before the next chapter, I will do a request one-shot for you. ONLY if you get them both right before the next chapter. And if you get it right, I will not accept any yaoi as a request. Understand that right now. And I have to know the show/game/whatever I am doing the fic on so keep it with well known stuff. Thanks

(3) The song Elle (the eye patched assassin) whistles in the beginning of 'Kill Bill vol.1'

And that is the twenty fourth chapter! I hope you enjoyed it like I did. There will be a few short crossover bits and then the five shall enter the other Naruto-verse and hopefully set it right. As for which animes I will choose, THAT it a secret to be found out next chapter, until then I bid you adieu!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	25. Chapter 25

Greetings one and all to chapter twenty five of Naruto the Chimera, I really have no clever monologue to start of this chapter

Greetings one and all to chapter twenty five of Naruto the Chimera, I have a thick cigar, a bottle of wine from 1930, and enough pocky to feed a small army, let's rock!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else, except this computer and my own ideas.

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Summary, more or less, of the last chapter

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Chimera and his four Testaments, Hidan, Kakuzu, Deidara, and Sasori worked together and destroyed the five main ninja villages at the same time. Chimera killed Sasuke painfully sand devoured Tsunade's soul, learning everything she did about medical ninjutsu and her super strength technique. After a six month long campaign of death and destruction, through the use of massive destruction, poisons and diseases, combined with a jutsu to detect human life on a global scale, the entire Naruto world lies barren and dead.

Now the main character and his four followers returned to Hell, to destroy other worlds that would not come to a natural end. This is the first of those worlds.

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With Chimera and the Testaments, Hell

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Chimera and his four Testaments were in Hell, which was a surprisingly nice place. They picked up Uchiha Sasuke's soul which Chimera apparently had a pre-death claim upon and then they went to Chimera's place of residence. Hidan aptly put it when he exclaimed "WOAH, this place is huge!"

And so it was. It was a medium sized palace of red stone; flames and magma were the major themes, combined with a certain amount of prestige, gold veined granite and marble was evident in the pillars and stairs, the entire thing had about four stories, and a few balconies had an excellent view of a plain of flames and tortured souls, nice place.

It kind of helped that the entire thing was looked after by a host of enslaved female human souls, former kunoichi mostly. Among them were Tayuya of Oto, Mitarashi Anko, Hyuuga Hinata, Nii Yugito, Tsuchi Kin, and Sabaku no Temari, among others. He made a good choice when it came to their uniforms, dresses of red silk that started just above the breasts and stopped at mid-thigh, held by two thin straps that went over the shoulders and they wore nothing else. Once again, nice place. They were sitting in Chimera's living room when Chimera decided to go over how they were going to destroy the worlds that wouldn't do it themselves. Making up for the lack of a natural apocalypse with a man, or demon, made one.

He told them that apocalypses occurred due to a steady influx of Hell's chaotic energies over the millennia, which causes things to steadily become worse and worse until eventually something big happens to wipe it out. Some worlds however had some form of protection that prevented that influx. He didn't know how that protection formed or why, but it acted as a shield, preventing Hell's forces from entering the world in question. Chimera himself could not enter such worlds either, that was why he recruited the four of them, to enter the worlds on his behalf and remove the shield over that world.

Hidan, ever the eloquent one, aptly put it when he said "How the Hell do we do that?" And, why couldn't he enter the world with them. Chimera's response was "As for why I can't come with you, the reason is simple. The shields over the worlds prevent Hell's energies and true evil in general from entering. I have a much greater amount of that power than you do, so when I crack the shield, one or more of you will enter through the breach before the shield closes over again. That's why I needed the Bijuu. I can, by using the King of Hell Statue, condense the energies of the nine and in one burst, overpower the positive energies of the shield, cracking it for a small time, long enough for you to enter the world and take down the shield from the inside, allowing myself and the Bijuu to enter the world and trigger the Armageddon of that world. How to destroy the shield you ask? It changes for each world. The shields are usually fueled by a resonance of 'good' energy that radiates off of certain people or certain objects. It is very easy to identify these things. It will be your jobs to kill the people in question and when necessary steal the objects that power the shield and corrupt it with your own power. Both will weaken the shield enough for me to shatter it and enter the world. After that, it's easy; we just do the same thing we did before. The only trouble we may have is that these objects are usually highly protected and the people have some amount of power. They are the only things preventing their world's destruction and it is your job to take care of them and open the way." He raised his right hand, showing the bracelet upon it.

"I can release the Bijuu from the Statue, letting them run rampant and destroy that world. They were caught by the Statue so I will be able to control them with this. After we're done, I can bring them back into the Statue like a dog on an elastic leash, simple eh?" The four nodded and Kakuzu said "So, what is the first world that we will be destroying?"

Chimera stood and faced the four of them then he gave them their briefing. "I decided to start off with one of the easier ones. I can't find any name the world goes by, but it uses a form of jutsu that the people of that world call 'bending' which, with a combination of elemental chakra and some form of movement; they can bend a specific element to their will. They only have the first four elements however, most do not have the capability to use lightning and even then only poorly, and most people can only use one element, understand me so far?" The four nodded and Chimera continued "The only person who can use more than one element is someone called the 'avatar' who is apparently some form of reincarnated spirit that keeps the balance between the four elements, or something like that. I don't know all of the details, nor do I give half a damn. This avatar person is the one who is, subconsciously, powering the shield and it is the job of you four to kill him. Any questions?" Sasori asked "What does this Avatar person look like?" **(1)**

Chimera merely grunted and said "Fuck if I know, his appearance changes with every reincarnation. Just look out for people who can use wind or as they call it 'air-bending' most of the people who can use it were massacred almost a century ago by their time, and the avatar is the only one left. Not too hard to find, considering the fact that he is an idiot. Right, let's get started!" Chimera then crossed the room and opened a door that had previously been hidden by a powerful Genjutsu, yelling 'follow me!' over his shoulder. The four followed him into the next room and saw the King of Hell Statue. Despite that, the room from the outside was rather small, way too small to fit the Statue in. Somehow the room was bigger inside than outside.

Defying Laws of Physics aside, Chimera unsealed his sword and cut into the dimensional space over the wall, opening a portal to another world. It showed a decent sized, grassy plain. Chimera looked over to them and said "Watch this." Then he put his hand to the portal, but it wouldn't go through. There was some sort of white field that stopped his hand. He pulled it back and said to them "That is the shield. He crossed over to the Statue and stood upon its head, holding the bracelet high and said "Stand at the hands." They stood upon the hands of the Statue, and as soon as they did, Chimera commanded the Statue through the bracelet to release the energy it contained in one large burst. The Statue obeyed its master and a large beam of scarlet demonic chakra burst from its mouth, battering against the shield and with a loud 'CRACK!' pierced it. Chimera yelled to the four "Jump into the beam, now! The energy won't hurt you!" The four trusted Chimera explicitly and as ordered they jumped into the beam, which acted as a flowing river, carrying them into their targeted world, the shield closing behind them.

Chimera let the beam stop once they were inside, letting the Bijuu replenish their power. He really wished he could go with them, but he couldn't control the Statue without being on sight, the energy would do what it wanted it he wasn't there to control it when it was released. He hoped the four of them had fun. Then he went off, maybe torturing Kakashi's soul would help his boredom.

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In the world of Avatar

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No one could explain it. In the world where the four elemental nations clashed, eh Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, the Fire Nation, and at one time the Air Nomads lived, on one night the stars all glowed a bright red and earthquakes shook the globe. No one knew what to make of this fell omen, other than something was happening in their world. Something that no one had ever seen or heard of before and something that no one knew how to deal with.

That night, the current Avatar, Aang, had a nightmare. Horrible beasts feasted upon the flesh of his friends, destroyed the cities, burned the fields, and destroyed all that he held dear. He woke up screaming, waking his friends, a girl from the Water Tribes named Katara who was a talented water-bender, her brother, Sokka, and a blind girl from the Earth Kingdom who was an extremely talented Earth-bender named Toph. Them, along with a lemur called Momo and a strange creature known as a sky bison named Appa made up their small group whose purpose was to help Aang learn and master the four elements and defeat the Fire Nation, which had been waging war with the other three for almost a century.

Either way, they were all woken up by Aang, the last air-bender, the last Air Nomad, and the Avatar's screaming out of fear. Toph, almost as rude as the White Testament and Jashin-priest Hidan aptly yelled over him "SHUT UP!" Aang promptly shut his mouth. Katara, more endearing and empathetic than her blind compatriot more often than not asked Aang, "Aang, what's wrong?" Before Aang could begin his tale, Sokka, more of an idiot who provides comic relief than a warrior, pointed out what none of them had noticed before and said "Uh, guys, is it just me or are all of the stars bright red? They all looked up and saw that Sokka's words were not his normal idiocy; they all shone with a dark light. Aang said "That was mentioned in my nightmare." "What nightmare?" asked Katara, ever the sweet and secretly trying to get into the Avatar's pants.

Aang started with "It was horrible, but I think that it was more than a normal dream. Avatar Roku, my predecessor's spirit appeared to me before I woke up, saying that only I could prevent this disaster." Seeing the looks on his friend's faces he elaborated "It was horrible, everyone was dead or dying, strange creatures destroyed everything, it was practically the end of the world." Sokka asked "And the Spirit of Avatar Roku told you that it was real?" Aang nodded and then told them what his predecessor's spirit told him, he could remember every word.

Aang was in the spirit world, where the animal spirits that made up the spiritual half of everything physical resided. There was a spirit of the moon, the sun, the forests, and just about everything else. Avatar Roku called him there and told him what he knew.

His spirit was taken into the spirit world from his dream, and Roku was waiting for him there. The old spirit was almost frantic. He immediately yelled "Aang, something horrible has happened!" At Aang's questions, the old man went on and said "The Avatar's Shield has been pierced!" "What do you mean?" Aang asked "What's the Avatar Shield?" Roku calmed himself then, it was the first time Aang had ever seen the spirit of his predecessor lose his composure, he was always very calm. This must be really bad if he was this shaken, he was calm even when he told him about Sozen's Comet that would show up in the summer.

Roku regained himself and said "Aang, this is very important; our entire world is in unimaginable danger." Aang just said "What's going on?"

Roku told him "Aang, I am going to tell you something I was only meant to tell you under dire circumstances, something only the Avatar knows. Aang, there is more than one world." Aang just looked at him and said "I know, there is the physical world and the Spirit world." Roku shook his head and said "No Aang, there are many more, uncounted thousands. Most of them are corrupted by evil forces over the millennia which eventually end the world, but not ours. The Avatar Shield prevents that." Aang looked at him and said "Evil forces?"

Roku nodded and said "Yes, though there are many worlds, there is one that connects them all known as Hell. Hell is the source of all evil, big and small. The corruption caused by Hell's energy causes the destruction of worlds." Aang nodded and said "So, how did the Avatar Shield crack?"

Roku merely said "The only way would be a massive impact of dark energy, enough to overpower the shield and crack it. It will heal over before long don't worry, but you must be ready for whatever comes through that crack before the Shield heals itself."

Aang simply asked "So, what caused the massive impact?"

Roku looked him straight in the eye and said "Hell itself has four rulers, known as the Archdukes of Hell. These beings hold unimaginable power. The most powerful of them, a terrible demon known as Chimera has managed to crack the Shield. Chimera is the ender of worlds like ours Aang. He has cracked the Shield and sent his trusted warriors, the Testaments through the crack to destroy the Shield completely."

Aang looked a bit panicked and said "How will they do that?" Roku looked saddened and said "By destroying the one thing that powers the Shield, the Avatar. They will come to kill you Aang, the four Testaments. If you ever see them, run. You will not have a chance against them until you have completely mastered the elements. You will notice them easily, there are four total, each with great powers. The four Testaments, red, blue, black, and white. If you ever see them Aang, run! If you fall, Chimera himself will enter our world and your dream; your premonition will come true." At that point Roku and the Spirit World began to fade as Aang returned to conciousness. Before Aang left he yelled to Roku "Wait, what about Chimera himself? What do I do if he shows up?" Roku looked at him and said "You will never meet him, if he ever steps foot upon our world, it means that you are dead. Aang, good luck."

Aang finished his tale to his friends and said "…And that's what happened."

Sokka said "So basically, the most powerful thing to ever exist wants to destroy our world for some reason known only to him, and he cracked the Shield that protects our entire world from dark forces to send his most powerful warriors to destroy the Shield completely so that he can kill everyone and the only thing keeping that Shield up is you?"

Aang nodded. Sokka said "We're all going to die."

Toph said "Eh, what does it matter? If we see these guys, we beat them up, nothing to it."

Katara said "That's really overconfident Toph." Said blind girl merely said "Hey, I have never seen or heard of these 'Testaments' so I bet they're a bunch of wusses. They won't last five minutes against us."

Katara just said "I sure hope so. Anyway, let's go back to bed." After a general consensus, the four returned to bed and after a peaceful night's sleep, the stars returned to normal by then. The next morning they mounted Appa and flew off to their next destination. **(2)**

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Meanwhile at some random place

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The four Akatsuki members turned Testaments landed on their feet in some grassy field. Hidan looked around and said "This joint is way too peaceful man. So, any ideas on where we find this Avatar dude?" Sasori sad "Well, Chimera-Sama did give us a tracking jutsu to find him." "Oh, yeah." Then Hidan rapidly did the handseals for the tracking jutsu allowing him to see wherever who or what was powering the world's shield against Hell.

After a moment Hidan yelled out "What the fuck, the dude is in the sky according to this thing!" Kakuzu glanced at him and said "Are you sure?" Hidan nodded and said "Yeah, check it yourself if you don't believe me." The other three did and Deidara said "Well, I'll be damned, Hidan was telling the truth, yeah." The other two just nodded while Hidan exclaimed "I told you so!"

Sasori nodded and said "So what does that life detection jutsu say?" Hidan ran through a few handseals and used the jutsu, after a while he said "There are four people on some sort of flying mount, along with another animal of some kind. Behind them are three people on some sort of mixture between an ancient triceratops and a rhino following them."

He looked at Kakuzu and said "I say we take them all out." Kakuzu just said "Big shock. I say we pair up and split up, Akatsuki-style and one pair goes after the target and his compatriots, while the other team goes after the other three just for fun. Only question is, who goes after which target."

Sasori and Kakuzu glanced at eachother and shouted "Jan-ken-pon! **(3)**

Sasori got rock, Kakuzu got scissors. Deidara and Sasori would go after the target, Hidan and Kakuzu would fight whoever was tracking the target. The latter two set of immediately while Deidara made a pair of birds for transportation through the sky to the target. Thus did the Avatar manhunt begin.

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With Hidan and Kakuzu

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The pair of former Akatuki members were running to catch whoever it was that was tracking their target. They didn't appear to be very much. A trio of girls dressed in red. One appeared rather broody; another seemed either hyper, high, or both, while the third just looked vicious. Hidan idly wondered if Chimera would add the three to his house staff after they died, they were obviously women of spirit and they were incredibly fun to break. He probably would, just to be a sadistic bastard; it was the sort of thing Chimera would do.

They certainly reacted like they somewhat knew what they were doing when Kakuzu stretched out his arm using his strings and swept the three beasts' legs out from under them using his incredible strength. The three immediately jumped off and got into combat stances facing the pair wearing black and white.

The one in the middle, the vicious one barked out in a tone that suggested she was used to giving orders and having them followed "Who are you two?" Yeah, probably royalty or maybe a high-up military leader of some kind. The pair stayed silent, watching them. She continued on "Do you two know who I am?" Hidan, never being one to shut his mouth immediately said "No, nor do I give a damn, you're just going to die in about, five minutes or so, if that. That should be more than enough time right?" Kakuzu nodded and said "More than enough time."

The girl took on a haughty expression and said "I am Azula, princess of the Fire Nation, heir to the throne." Hidan looked over at her and said "That's nice." Then he said to Kakuzu "So, do you take them or should I?" Kakuzu glanced at him and said "I don't care, kill to your heart's content. Feel free to call for help if you need it." Hidan let out a bark of laughter and said "That will never happen." Kakuzu gave him a glance and said "Just like how you didn't need my help against those Konoha nin?" The only response he got was a quick "Shut the hell up, you ass." As Hidan stepped forward and Kakuzu retreated a bit, giving his partner some room to work.

As Hidan stepped forward, the one who called herself Azula said "So, you think that you can beat all of us on your own?" Hidan took his scythe from his back and said "No, I KNOW I can beat you three on my own." Then he did something none of the three expected. He took his scythe and slit his own wrist with the tip of the smallest blade, letting blood pour onto the ground. The cut healed quickly and Hidan quickly stepped in the blood and moved it into a shape. A triangle inside of a circle. Hidan, the White Testament took off his hood, cloak, and mask, releasing his Albino features upon the world, much to the hyper looking one's delight. According to her he looked 'cute', the poor woman. Hidan just looked the one known as Azula straight in the eye and said "Bring it, bitch!" With a cry of "With pleasure!" Azula launched a blast of high intensity flame at Hidan, but he did nothing, letting the flames engulf him, much to the trio's surprise.

Azula looked at Kakuzu, the Black Testament and said "I knew your friend was all talk. Leave now or the same will happen to you!" Kakuzu just looked at her and said in his normal deep monotone "Your fight has not even begun and you think you have won? Is everyone here this cocky?"

Azula looked puzzled and said "What do you mean, the fight is over, I burned your friend to ashes, he's d-" She would have continued on had a large, three bladed scythe not burst from the flames and caught her friend Mai in the throat, slicing the jugular and the carotid arteries. The remaining two, Azula and Ty Lee looked on in shock as the man Azula thought she had burned to death simply walked out of the flames like nothing happened, despite the masses of third degree burns that covered his body which were healing before their eyes until he was whole and healthy once more, even any clothes that were burned by the attack were made whole again. Hidan cricked his neck, looked at Azula and said "Is that all you've got? If it is, this won't last long." Ty Lee looked like she was on the brink of panic, Azula wasn't that far behind. Mai, their friend since childhood, an expert of weapons, just had her throat slashed in front of them by a man who wasn't even slightly affected by incredibly hot fire.

Kakuzu hmph'ed and said "Stop fooling around Hidan, finish the other two and let's move on, the other two won't take long to get their job done. Hidan nodded to his partner and a ritual pike formed in his hand from nothing. He threw it at Ty Lee with great speed. Being a natural and talented acrobat however, said spike of metal was avoided… only to back-flip into the blades of the scythe Hidan had thrown at her when she jumped, sending it under her and then pulling the weapon back from where she couldn't see it. It wasn't much of a wound, just a scratch, but it still drew blood. Blood that fell upon the blades of Hidan's weapon, blood that Hidan consumed before he moved back into the circle he drew upon the ground before hand. Hidan's skin turned black and white markings appeared on his body, the sign that Hidan's curse was in place. The two opponents were shocked at this transformation, almost paralyzed until he looked at the leader and said "You are my next target."

Azula acted in rage, which was never wise, and fell right into the enemies' trap, launching another large blast of flames at him, engulfing him again. However, the screams that were heard were not that of Hidan, but those of Ty Lee. Azula looked on in shock and horror as large, vicious burns appeared along the body of the young girl, until bone was exposed in some places. Eventually she died of burns in horrible pain, and Azula had no idea how it happened.

She looked upon the man in white, the one who had killed her only two friends in shock and outrage. Hidan's skin returned to its normal pale complexion since the target of the curse was dead. Hidan looked upon the Fire Nation princess and smiled. Azula did the only smart thing she could do. She turned around and ran like a bat out of hell, toward the Avatar's latest position. She thought maybe he could help her against these two… things! The two things that killed her friends, the two that had beaten her. The two that pursued her silently through the forest toward the sounds of explosions ahead of them.

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Meanwhile, with Deidara and Sasori

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While Hidan and Kakuzu were fooling around with the three girls (imagery!), Deidara and Sasori were scouting the target with Deidara's scope. After a moment or two, they came up with a plan to assassinate the target. Sasori got off of his bird and went beneath the target area for the strike on foot, with a large number of Deidara's clay mines inside of a scroll. Deidara, after turning Sasori's bird back into clay and putting it back in his pouch to preserve his supply. Like he needed to. Chimera's major gift to Deidara was a type of inter-dimensional bag. No matter the size of the bag, he could carry near endless amounts of exploding clay, without any extra weight. A pair of 5 lb. bags that carried a few hundred thousand pounds of clay at maximum, regardless of their size, it was incredible. And Deidara had both bags carrying their maximum, his fighting style had a weakness and that was running out of clay for his explosives. Thanks to Chimera that problem was no more.

Deidara prepared for the attack and made a C2 Dragon in the air. Once it was air born, he jumped to the new creation and turned the other bird back into normal clay. Then he watched the target and waited until they were over the planned area for the attack, which was a decent sized clearing that would be directly under them in about two miles. He waited patiently until they were over the strike zone, the Avatar and his group not noticing the large clay dragon thanks to the cloud cover, which was rather extensive. Then he had the dragon absorb a part of itself and expel a smaller, but faster and more immediately expendable clay dragon. That dragon surged ahead and blindsided the target's aerial beast, detonating on contact and sending them on a collision course with the ground. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the expression on their faces when the target saw them. They knew that they knew who they were. A lot of worlds had legends about them in some way. Chimera wasn't too clear on how that worked. Something about the interlacing temporal relationship between Hell and the various worlds, he wasn't too sure about the whole thing. Either way, the plan was working so far, the target had been grounded in the ambush zone, where Sasori should have planted the mines. They were trapped and Deidara was to finish them off. Deidara soared downward towards the ground, smiling under his mask.

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Avatar main party POV

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They had no idea what the hell just happened. They were going… somewhere, and all of a sudden there's an explosion out of nowhere and they crash land on some field. The good news was that no one was hurt, except Appa who was fucked up pretty bad. The bad news was that someone was trying to kill them again.

Katara stood up, rubbing the back of her head saying "What was that?"

Sokka who was up and about soon after looked up at the sky and said "I have no idea; maybe the sky just hates us for some reason? Anyway, how's Appa?" Aang checked out and let out a gasp then told them "Oh man, guys this is really bad!" And so it was. The explosive got the beast from below, nailing it in the side and the belly, ripping them open and causing severe bleeding and muscle damage. Without proper care, he wouldn't last an hour.

Toph finally stood up and got everyone's attention "Hey, there's something under the ground!" Aang looked over and said "It's probably just a bunch of moles or rabbits Toph. Come on, we'll need your help to move Appa."

Toph just said "It isn't anything like that, I don't know what they are, but they aren't moving and their all over the clearing." Sokka started walking over towards the clearing's edge saying "Come on Toph there's nothing to worry about." About two seconds later a mine detonated right in front of him, blasting him backwards and into Appa's uninjured side. "Guys," Toph said "I think someone else is here." Before anyone could reply they heard a cry from above "There's no one here except you guys and me, yeah!"

Three of them looked up, as Toph couldn't see, to see a large white dragon hovering a few hundred feet above them, a man in blue clothing with a blue mask standing on its back. Aang yelled up at him "Who are you? Why are you doing this?" The man in blue looked down and said "I am the Blue Testament and I am doing this to remove that damn shield over this world!"

It was a magic moment, a moment of time that could always be remembered in vivid clarity when time seemed to stop. The identification brought Aang back to his dream the night before and he knew that his entire world was in danger because of this person, and who he worked for. The others remembered what Aang told them earlier and got ready to fight. They couldn't run of else they would be leaving Appa behind. All they could do was try their best and hope for a victory.

Aang recovered first "T-the Blue Testament? Then you work for that other guy, the one who wants to destroy everything?" Aang was wary, he knew he couldn't defeat the person easily, and he couldn't run or he would leave Appa behind to die. It was an impossible choice.

The man now labeled as the Blue Testament just said "He doesn't want to destroy everything, just every last human. And I know you are thinking about running away and don't bother. The entire clearing is covered in my mines and the only way to get out of there would be through the air, and trust me, no matter who you are, you can't beat me in an airborne battle. You are trapped."

Aang realized that he was right. Even if he wanted to leave, he couldn't do it on the ground, and he couldn't go by air with Katara, Sokka, and Toph with him. And even if he could he would be leaving behind Appa. Toph stepped forward and said "So, you want to kill Aang then, huh?" The man looked down and said "Is that what his name is? I feel sorry for the guy, I have heard worse names, but that one is pretty bad. But yeah, I want him dead and he will be before long."

Toph got into a stance and said "Then you'll have to go through me!" Katara moved to stand beside Toph and exclaimed "And me!" He looked down at them both and said "Hey, it's your funeral." Then the dragon opened its jaws and a large amount of clay pressed outward towards them. Until it was expelled into another, smaller dragon which headed straight for them both.

Toph used her Earth-bending, sending a large rock towards the airborne bomb, but it was easily avoided by the nimble clay creature, and it continued on towards the group, only to be hit straight on by Katara's water-bending, slicing the dragon in half, and causing both halves to explode well away from the group.

The man didn't seem to care; in fact he seemed to be having fun, somehow. The dragon's tail shrank as it consumed its own substance to launch another explosive at them, sending several smaller and faster bird shaped explosives down with it.

Though Toph's skills weren't worth much against such fast targets, she still launched large boulders toward them, all of which were avoided. Her aim wasn't too good when it came to aerial targets. Aang finally joined the battle, sending boulders toward the almost living creatures attacking them, and he actually hit one of the birds. It was more out of pure luck than skill, but it still happened.

Aang realized that they couldn't win if they were stuck on the defensive. So he launched a rather large boulder towards the larger dragon and more importantly the man on its back. The dragon, while powerful, was still slow and despite Deidara's efforts to move the great artistic construction, the boulder got it in the wing joint, ripping through the clay and sawing off the left wing of the creature altogether, bringing the thing down. Though Deidara's construction was soon to be destroyed, he didn't let its loss go in vain. He aimed his explosive towards his enemies before he jumped off the dragon, landing outside the ambush zone where he was safe from the mines.

The smaller projectile dragon was already destroyed, as were all but one of the birds before the larger dragon fell. However, Toph and Aang working together created a large shield of earth to absorb the blast, which it did quite well.

Deidara was a bit pissed off. His artwork was being blocked and destroyed and he couldn't use any of his grander attacks without getting himself and Sasori hurt or killed. Neither one of them was a close-range fighter and that was what they were trying to turn it into. He decided that since he couldn't kill them without getting pretty banged up himself he called in Sasori and they went into battle together, carefully staying out of the mine field.

Aang, Katara and the others looked around for the Blue Testament. His dragon was grounded, but he was still around somewhere. He soon showed himself however, with a shorter man, perhaps a hunchback, dressed almost exactly like him. The only difference was that instead of blue, this one wore a dark, bloody shade of red. The Red Testament was here as well.

When they saw the second figure they froze, they could together, hold their own against one of these guys, or so they thought, but two was impossible if he was anything like the first. They were in serious trouble.

The shorter man looked at them and said "You could have killed them if you weren't playing around Deidara. Once again I end up doing the dirty work, despite the plan we came up with. Idiot" The shorter man reached upwards with his right hand and there was a glint of metal as a special kunai was launched at the speed of sound, nailing Aang right in the chest, a second one hitting Toph, and blowing Katara into a tree, snapping her spine and a fourth went into Sokka and the beast, ending the confrontation and destroying the world's shield. They knew it would take a bit for the shield to weaken to the point where it could be broken, so the pair settled in to wait for their comrades.

They showed up about 5-10 minutes later, but they were beaten there by a girl wearing red, who must have been running for a while. She made it about five feet into the clearing before a three bladed scythe came from the forest and lopped off her head. Hidan and Kakuzu stepped from the shadows of the trees.

Kakuzu took one look at the place and said "The target's dead?" Sasori nodded and Hidan said "Then we wait. Damn it all, I should have left her alive for a little longer, she would have provided some amount of sport. Fuck!"

They didn't have to wait long as within a few minutes a large white haze filled the sky and it suddenly cracked and then disappeared.

Hidan said "It looks like the Shield's gone. Wonder when Chimera-Sama will show up?" They didn't have long to wait as the ground began shaking and the sky turned dark as a portal to that world was ripped open and a slender masked figure stepped onto the ground.

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(1) I do not own 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' for those who have never seen it, I try to sum it up in the chapter

(2) This occurs after the Fire Nation invasion, and the place is irrelevant, take your pick on where you want them to go, it doesn't matter

(3) Or however it goes, Japanese Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter; it is the longest in the story so far. Another thing, with this chapter, this story has broken the 100,000 word mark, a new high I have always wanted to achieve, so congrats to me. Feel more than free to give me recommendations on what worlds to have in this story, there are only going to be three or four more, so act quickly. I will use what I think would work best. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, so see you later.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	26. Chapter 26

Greetings to all who may or may not read this

Greetings to all who may or may not read this. Welcome to Naruto the Chimera chapter twenty six. To all those who gave your ideas for additional worlds, I thank you for your ideas. I got two or three good ideas from them all and I know which one I will do after the Avatar one is over. However, don't let that stop you from reviewing by all means, or giving possible ideas; I am more than willing to listen to them.

I'm still giddy that I broke the 100K word barrier. As far as I am concerned that is one major difference between a good fic and a great fic.

Anyway, sorry for boring you all, let's get this chapter started.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Avatar, or anything else I use except for my own ideas.

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Summary of last chapter

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The Testaments invaded the world of Avatar, where they slew Aang, Katara, and their lot, as well as Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. They destroyed the Shield around that world and Chimera himself has entered it. Now then, let's get started

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In the field where the Avatar was killed

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The sky grew black and the earth trembled as Chimera stepped from the portal. He took a deep breath as the portal sealed behind him. There was absolutely nothing like the smell of a new world for the first time, it was almost intoxicating.

Then the moment was over and he turned to the four and said "You guys are quick, **but you have the WORST timing in the history of existence."**

Hidan asked "What did we do wrong?"

Chimera looked at him and said "You interrupted my Halo match with Valvoga you prick! And I was winning for the first time**! Honestly, you have no idea how hard it is to beat someone with four arms at a game like that. **Regardless, we have a job to do, so let's get started, shall we?"

Before Chimera could begin, Sasori asked a question "Chimera-Sama, what are we going to do about the Avatar?"

Chimera looked at him and said "He's already dead, what does it matter?"

Sasori elaborated "I heard that the Avatar's spirit is always reincarnated, wouldn't that reform the Shield?"

Chimera let out a quick bark of laughter and said "Oh, that, it doesn't matter. It takes at least ten years for the Avatar to reincarnate, and our job will be done long before then. Even if a new Avatar showed up, he wouldn't be a threat. Without all four elements at his command, the Avatar could not begin to hope to challenge any of us, and all of the Air-benders are dead, so he would be completely deprived of that art. There would be no one to teach him and no scrolls from which to learn. The old Air Nomads never wrote their techniques and methods down. They passed on their knowledge and teachings through word of mouth and memory alone. So, the Avatar is no problem. He is out of the game until it is too late, and even if a new one showed up, he would never reach his full potential. Now then, to business."

Chimera turned away from the four ex-Akatsuki and went through a number of handseals before slamming his hand onto the ground and yelled "Kuchiyose no Jutsu, King of Hell!" And as soon as he did, there was a large burst of smoke and the King of Hell Statue stood upon the earth.

Chimera jumped upon the great stone head and lifted his right hand, the bracelet upon it gleaming and he said, lacing chakra into his voice as he did "_AWAKEN!"_ As soon as he did, the eyes of the Statue opened in sequence, from the Ichibi to the Kyuubi as the Statue awoke its power.

Chimera waited until all nine eyes were opened before shouting, once more channeling chakra into his voice so that the bracelet could 'hear' him and command the Statue, "_Release!"_ And it was done. The great gag upon the Statue fell and the mouth gaped open. The nine Bijuu, the greatest demons outside of the four Archdukes themselves were released from the Statue, but still bound to it. They had to obey the Statue, the Statue had to obey the Bracelet, and the Bracelet was held by Chimera. He opened a map of the world in question and using that in combination with his human life sensing jutsu, sent the beasts to where they could do the most damage. The Sanbi went to the south water tribe. The Nanabi to the Norhern Tribe, the Kyuubi, Hachibi, Nibi, and the Yonbi, the four tailed lizard were to ravage the Earth Kingdom, or the remains thereof. The Rokubi the six-tailed phoenix was to search the mountains and hard to reach places. That left the Ichibi and the Gobi in reserve on the unlikely chance that anyone would need assistance.

All of this was alright of course, except for the fact that the Fire Nation was left untouched. When Kakuzu asked about it, Chimera just looked at him and said "That place is our job to destroy you moron. You really think that I will come **all the way over here without getting into a fight? If so you are insane, no other explanation." **

He looked at the four and said "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get going!" Then Chimera vanished in a shunshin, the four Testaments right behind him.

They had fun in the Fire Nation. Chimera slaughtered the Fire Lord in front of his own people, and Hidan met with the guy's son and brother. The Fire Lord's brother, Iroh, was rather angry when he was told that Hidan killed his niece, Azula, and the Fire Lord's son, Zuko, was absolutely PISSED that Hidan killed Mai, who was apparently his girlfriend. Neither of them lasted long before the white clad immortal. Everyone had their fun.

In about a month, thanks to the Bijuu and the life detection jutsu, all human life was wiped out. Chimera personally ripped the throat from the last human alive, some middle aged dude, who cares. Then Chimera went back to the Statue and stood upon its head as he did a month before, held up his right hand and yelled, with a chakra-laced voice _"Seal!"_

As soon as he did, the seven of the Nine Bijuu that were free were sucked back into the Statue. After the gag upon the Statue was replaced, Chimera ended the Summoning, allowing the Statue to depart.

He stood before his four Testaments and said "Well done." Then he turned his back, unsealed his sword, and opened a portal to Hell, stepped inside and sealed away his sword before sitting down. The Testaments did the same. Chimera's fellow Archduke Valvoga was there waiting for them.

Valvoga was similar to Chimera in a way, in that he too was a combination of several things. Unlike Chimera however, Valvoga was a combination of only three things and they each retained their personality and consciousness. So instead of three beings where one devoured the other two, like Chimera, it was more of a melding of the three. He floated about three feet off the ground, and he would never tell anyone how he did it. At the bottom was a large skull, minus the jaw with a large ball of flame floating inside which made up the lower body of Valvoga. The skull was that of a dragon named Dryzen. At the crown of the skull there was a ring of sharp spines that surrounded the bottom of Valvoga's torso. There was an entire head, the back of which melded into the torso. That belonged to a Fallen Angel called Ophelia. The torso belonged to a muscular demon of a purple-ish color. The demon had horns upon its head and four arms. This was the upper body known as Mickey, who supposedly made the decisions, but was actually a wuss that was bullied by the other two. They were separate minds, but they shared the same body and they were quite formidable. They were collectively known as Valvoga, but each part was to be referred to by its name specifically when talked to. Chimera explained it to his Testaments as such.

Mickey, the top portion of the Archduke exclaimed "So, Chimera-kun, these are the guys you ditched us for?" The middle portion, Ophelia said in her normal silky voice "He left without a word, how rude of you Chimera." Then the bottom portion, Dryzen let out in his normal booming voice "**CHIMERA RAN BECAUSE HE WAS LOSING THE GAME!! LOOOOSEEEERRRR!"**

Chimera let out a sigh and said "Mickey, sorry about that, urgent business and all that. I will be more than happy to play you again after I send these four off. Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu, meet my fellow Archduke Valvoga. Valvoga, meet my Testaments Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, and Kakuzu."

Mickey just said "Heya fellas, nice to meet you! Tell me, how badly does it suck to work for my friend here, eh?" Hidan just laughed out loud when he heard Mickey. He sounded like the stereotypical gay dude. He stammered out as he laughed his guts out "A-a-are you kidding me? THIS GUY is an Archduke of Hell?! Are you gay or asexual, because with a voice like that there is no WAY in HELL that you are straight!"

Mickey just looked wounded, but Ophelia took offense to it "Hey, back off of Mickey you asshole! The only ones allowed to bully Mickey are myself and-"At that point Dryzen stepped in and yelled "**DRYZEN PICKS ON MICKEY!! GUAHAHAHA!"**

At that point Chimera stepped in before anyone could do something violent and said "Okay, okay, I'll play a rematch with you guys, **but first I have to give these guys their next mission. If you'll excuse us…."** Chimera brought the four into the Statue room again and as soon as he closed the door he said "That was dumb as Hell, Hidan" Said Albino looked over at him and said "Did you HEAR that guy! He deserved to be laughed at!"

Chimera shook his head and said "You have no idea how close you came to complete obliteration, do you? Valvoga is almost as strong as I am. All of the Archdukes are. Yes, I am the strongest, but it's a close thing, in a fight between any of us, it could go either way. You need to be more respectful, or I might not be able to protect you from the people you piss off, understand?" Chimera left to indication that he was joking in his voice. He was dead serious. Hidan swallowed a lump in his throat and said "Right, so what world is next on the list?"

Chimera accepted the unspoken apology and gave them their briefing. "The world you will be entering is a rustic one. It has a few demons, but very few have any real power, and none that compare to me. There are five targets in this world. Something called the Shikon jewel fuels the shield, along with two priestesses called Kagome and Kikyo. The last two are the sons of their strongest demon, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Kill the four targets and corrupt that jewel. A demon called Naraku has it in his possession, well most of it. Kagome has one shard, but Naraku has the rest. Kill Naraku and take the jewel, the one called Kagome is traveling with Inuyasha along with a few others and they are seeking the jewel. She will eventually find you, and with her will be Inuyasha. Kikyo will sense the jewel too, as will Sesshomaru and come looking since they are all Naraku's enemies, be careful though. None of them are to be underestimated. Right, let's get started." He then leaped up onto the head of the Statue and said "Oh, and take your time, I don't want you guys interrupting my game of Halo again, understand?" Getting affirmatives from the four, he released the Statue's power and broke that world's shield, sending his Testaments into the target of Chimera's malice.

Then Chimera went back into the living room shouting to Valvoga "Now, do you want to get massacred by sniper rifle of missile launcher?"

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In the world of Inuyasha

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The four Testaments arrived in a village taken by death. Whatever happened here, no one survived. There were a lot of corpses, but little else. Hidan looked around and whistled then he said "Now this is MUCH more like it, way better than that last place."

Sasori looked around and said "This was done about four days ago, no more, maybe a little less. I've seen cleaner jobs that's for sure, this was done very sloppily. Honestly, rookies nowadays, I guarantee you that there are at least ten survivors to this." Kakuzu just took a quick glance at the immediate surroundings and said "Whatever, now Chimera-Sama said something about a jewel that is both a target and bait for the other targets and that it was held by a demon. Let's try and find that first." Deidara nodded and used the jutsu that let them track the power sources behind that world's shield. He found, just as Chimera said, five targets. Four were people and the fifth was a jewel split into two pieces. The greater portion was not too far away, the second portion was just a small piece carried by one of the other targets. Deidara relayed this information to the others.

Sasori thought for a second about what Chimera told them about the demon holding the jewel, and used the life detection jutsu. He had been told that the demon's heart was separate from its body and only by destroying that could you kill it. Sasori found what he was looking for. A thread that led from the demon holding the jewel, into the distance. It was the demon's connection to his heart and through it they could find and kill the demon. He told the others this particular tidbit and they came up with a plan. Hidan would take on the demon and keep it busy while Deidara went to take out the heart and kill the demon. They would work out the details to take care of the other targets later. Kakuzu and Sasori would back up Hidan if he needed it. That agreed upon, Deidara soared off and the other three turned toward the larger portion of the Shikon Jewel.

The three of them, even on foot, could make very good time. While Deidara on his bird was much faster of course, the time they made to cover the 30-40 miles separating them was nothing to scoff at. They finally reached the palace where the demon Naraku made his home. There was a somewhat powerful barrier around it. They had seen stronger of course but it was still rather nicely done. They waited until Deidara was close to the heart, which was apparently mobile until they had Hidan slice through the barrier like it was rice paper and the three stepped inside.

Inside the barrier was a castle. It was the traditional Japanese style, a lot of wood and paper, but it was dilapidated and old. There was plenty of driftwood but very little there could be called beautiful, if anything at all.

They were there for all of about five seconds when a mellow voice stated "Who are you and how did you get past my barrier?" They looked around a little, but they couldn't see anyone. That didn't mean that they didn't know where he was, mind you, they could hear his breathing easily enough, they just couldn't see him.

Hidan, knowing his job was to distract said "Are you Naraku?" When that mellow voice answered in the affirmative Hidan said "Then get your ass out here, I have something to say to you!" Naraku appeared to them then, behind a screen, but still there. They knew it was the real one because they could see the jewel with their targeting jutsu. They just had to stall for a while, until Deidara destroyed his heart and then that would be that and they could start hunting the targets. They heard the same mellow voice coming from that silhouette from behind the screen; it said "What could worthless people like you possibly have to say to me? Tell me how you penetrated my defenses before I kill you." Before anyone could respond, far to the North, in the ruins of a mountain known as Mt.Hakurei, Deidara found the demon's heart. It was well hidden among the rubble and defended by several powerful illusions and barriers, but he saw through them and eventually reached his destination. He prepared a C1 bomb and placed it upon the heart. Then he got on his bird and flew into the air to get away from the blast. The explosion was small, but it destroyed the heart, and the instant it happened, the other three knew about it.

The demon Naraku was dead. It was very sudden. One moment he was demanding information, the next minute he fell into a seizure and died clutching his chest. Hidan walked over and picked up the jewel, which was only missing a single small fragment and said to the others "One down five to go."

The other two there nodded and Sasori said "Right, we can't corrupt it and prevent it from powering the shield unless it's whole, so let's wait for Deidara before we plan anything further." The other two nodded and within a few hours, Deidara appeared upon his clay bird. The barrier around the castle was starting to vanish by this time, it took a while for some reason.

Deidara landed and yelled to the other three "What's up yeah?"

Sasori just looked at the blonde pyromaniac and said "Get the hell down here so that we can decide our strategy." Deidara leapt from the top of his bird, leaving it there and basically told them to get on with it.

Kakuzu started off and said "Okay, we have four targets, two are long range specialists, the other two are short to mid range specialists and one of the long range and one of the short range specialists are traveling together with a few others. We need to decide who will take on which target. Whoever gets Kikyo or Sesshomaru is on their own, but the ones to take Kagome and Inuyasha would have to work together, they would also keep the jewel. You all agree so far?" The other three nodded so he continued.

"Since close range combat is neither Sasori's or Deidara's strong point, I say that one of the two should handle Kikyo, the other would target Kagome. That would leave me and Hidan to deal with the half-brothers. I will take Inuyasha and Hidan you will take down Sesshomaru. Sasori, since your attacks are better against small groups, I would ask for your assistance while Deidara takes on Kikyo. Do any of you have any problems with this?" The other three thought about it for a moment and they each agreed. Deidara jumped onto his bird and flew off in search of the undead priestess while Hidan walked in a leisurely manner toward Sesshomaru's last known position.

Sasori and Kakuzu moved into a nearby clearing in the surrounding forest and waited. They knew that their targets were traveling together and that one of them could sense the jewel which they had in their position. They wouldn't have to go running around. Their targets would come to them, and they eagerly awaited them.

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With Kagome, Inuyasha and Co.

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It started off as a normal enough morning. They did not think that anything special was going to happen. They were hoping on finding Naraku of course, but they hadn't found any new leads as of late. They realized however that something was up when, in the middle of the day, Miroku, lecherous monk extraordinaire, suddenly yelled out and gripped his right hand.

Shippo, the tiny fox demon that traveled with the rest of them ran to Miroku's side. He looked up at him and asked frantically "Miroku, what's wrong?" Said perverted monk fell to his knees, still holding his right hand, slipping off the prayer beads that kept his curse, the Wind Tunnel, sealed off. The hole in his hand that would suck anything in, including himself one day, that was given to his family by Naraku. He slipped off the beads, much to the fear of everyone around him, they yelled "Miroku, what are you DOING, are you trying to kill us all!?" Came the horrified and shocked cries of Kagome, reincarnation of the priestess Kikyo, and Sango, a powerful demon hunter.

Then Miroku removed the cloth on his palm, showing something that surprised everyone, even himself. The Wind Tunnel was gone. Everyone was shocked without exception. The Wind Tunnel disappearing could only mean one thing: that Naraku was dead. There was no other explanation, someone or something had found Naraku and killed him.

"W-w-what, the Wind Tunnel, I-it's gone!" Miroku stammered, shocked beyond belief.

Kagome, equally shocked, just stuttered "T-there's no way, that means that Naraku is dead." The others couldn't say anything; they never expected Naraku to just die one day. What was next, Sesshomaru joining their group? It was unthinkable.

They agreed that since Naraku is dead, then someone else has the Shikon jewel. The five of them continued on their journey, hoping to find out who killed Naraku, and more importantly where the jewel was. They had been traveling for a few hours when Kagome let out an unexpected proclamation "You guys, I can see the sacred jewel, and it's darker than I have ever seen it!" They asked where it was and Kagome pointed out the direction. They continued on, entering a forest thick with demons. Not swarming with them, but you would definitely see a fair amount of them.

Within an hour or so of entering the forest, the group suddenly burst into a large clearing. Sitting on a tree stump at the other side was a figure clad completely in black, nearby there was a hunchback that wore the same clothing as the man sitting on the stump, only instead of black his clothes were a dark red. In the hand of the black-clad figure sat the sacred Shikon jewel. The entire thing, save for the single shard that Kagome kept in a small bottle inside of her bag glowed with a terrible darkness. They realized that whoever these people were, they were probably the ones who killed Naraku and therefore were not to be underestimated. They each prepared themselves for combat. Inuyasha drew his sword, the Tessaiga from its sheath and Kagome preparing her bow. Sango picked up her enormous boomerang and Miroku readied his staff. They were as prepared for a fight as they could hope to be when Kagome asked "Who are you two and why do you have the Shikon Jewel?"

The black clothed person looked over to his hunchbacked companion and said "There are more of them than I thought there would be, how do we split them up? I'll be happy to take them all except your target though, if you want." The red cloaked man looked up and said "It hardly matters; take as many as you want." His partner nodded and stood up, putting the jewel into a pouch on his belt, he faced the group and said "You are Inuyasha, are you not?" Inuyasha was a bit surprised and then he grinned and said "Yeah, I am so just hand over the jewel and I will let you guys live."

The man just shook his head, murmuring something that sounded like "Why did I get the arrogant ass out of them all?" Then he looked up and said "I don't think so, feel free to give me your piece of the jewel, but I still won't spare your lives." At that point Inuyasha yelled "Then I won't spare yours!" and ran out to attack the strange figure. The first vertical slash was sidestepped easily and when he went for an immediate horizontal slash he stepped backward. So it went with Inuyasha making wild swings and slashes, all of which were easily avoided.

Eventually the half-demon jumped backwards and brought his sword down, releasing a large blast of cutting energy with a shout of "WINDSCAR!"

The destructive energy of the attack bored down upon the figure and it engulfed him without him even trying to dodge. "Good job Inuyasha!" Yelled Kagome, glad to see her expectation of powerful enemies proved false. Her cheering immediately stopped when a long, slim, needle went straight into her neck. She dropped to the ground without a sound.

"KAGOME!" Went the cry of everyone there. Sango and Shippo rushed over to her, hoping to find out what was going on. After a quick diagnostic, it was obvious that she needed an expert healer. That possibility was prevented however by the short, red clad figure that stood against them.

Inuyasha raised his sword, pointed it at the short figure and said "Let us go or I will do the same thing to you as I did to that other guy." The hunchback just said "You did not do anything to him yet, your battle has barely begun."

Inuyasha yelled "What the hell are you talking about, he couldn't of survived tha-" He would have went on, but at that moment the smoke from the Windscar cleared, revealing the black clad figure that Inuyasha attacked. He was completely unharmed. Said figure looked over to the surprised group, and he vanished.

The figure appeared behind Inuyasha and grabbed his neck, throttling him. He looked over and said "Sasori, you take care of the others." The red figure now known as Sasori nodded and turned to the remaining people. The demon cat, Kirara, transformed from a small kitten into a demonic mountain lion. Sango tossed her insanely huge weapon at the diminutive figure, but it was deflected into the air by some kind of segmented metal tail. The boomerang flew off into the forest near the edge of the clearing. Miroku charged the small enemy, wielding his staff, but his downward strike was easily sidestepped. The same tail from before ran Miroku through the sides, piercing his heart and lungs.

Sango let out a small cry of grief and shock and then went after the figure with a blade hidden in her sleeve, Kirara beside her while Shippo tried to get the needle out of Kagome's neck. Inuyasha managed to break the other figures' hold and got some distance between them.

Sango dodged the tail and attacked with the blade, aiming for the eyeholes in the man's mask. The figure moved suddenly, tilting his head upward in a calculated movement so that the blade caught the eyehole at an angle, forcing the mask upward and off of his face.

The man was rather bland featured, brown of skin and not really anything out of the ordinary. The only odd thing about his was the three lines that ran down his jaw. In one split second those lines widened and the mouth split open, the lower jaw splitting into three pieces as a stream of needles just like the one that had struck Kagome flew from his mouth, riddling her torso, limbs, and neck. They pierced several major veins and she quickly bled out. Kirara, who had been kept busy by the tail was just impaled through the stomach and torn open. That meant that the only thing standing between him and Kagome as well as the jewel shard she carried was Shippo.

The red figure moved quickly, replacing his mask and then pointing his right hand at the small fox demon, who was completely focused on the girl. He didn't feel a thing as the sound barrier-breaking kunai knife pierced his chest and blew him across the clearing. He crossed over to the girl and after finding and taking the last jewel shard, pierced her through the chest with his tail. Then he watched the battle between Inuyasha and Kakuzu, which was coming to an end.

During the entire battle, Inuyasha had been dominated. His every strike was blocked by some kind of barrier that surrounded his adversary, like the barrier that surrounded Naraku but much more powerful. Even his Windscar was unable to pierce it. He used the Backlash Wave with as much power as he could put into it, but it too had no affect upon his enemy. He knew that while he tried to defeat this _thing _this _monster_, his friends were being hurt by this ones' partner. The only problem was that if he went to help, this one would kill him. He used only punches and kicks, but they were extremely strong. Eventually though, the figure must have gotten tired of it, as his hands and forearms separated from the rest of his arms and rushed towards him, connected only by a few black tendrils. The powerful hands closed around his throat and suddenly he had no air. The squeeze upon his windpipe was growing in strength and before long, Inuyasha suffocated, his claws and sword not enough to penetrate the powerful shield protecting his killer.

Kakuzu turned to Sasori and said "Did you get he shard?" Sasori nodded and pulled from a belt pouch a single pinkish shard of crystal. Kakuzu took the shard and joined it with the rest, completing the jewel. The entire sphere glowed black as it was corrupted by the evil intents and deeds that all but flowed from its current owner. Kakuzu looked at Sasori and said "Three down, two to go." Then they returned to the late Naraku's castle and waited for the others to show up.

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With Deidara

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It took Deidara a while to find the priestess Kikyo, his target. She moved around quite a bit, but he eventually found her. He soared far above her on one of his clay birds, looking down upon her. She was currently residing in a decent sized village, working as a healer, rather odd choice of career for someone dead, but oh well. He decided that it would be easier to just get it over with in one blast. As a result he created a C3 and dropped it on the village. By the time people noticed the large statue like explosive, it was too late and the entire village was disintegrated, anything that wasn't was left in flames. Kikyo did not survive the blast, she wasn't meant to. He headed off to the rendezvous point with the others, hoping no one took too long.

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With Hidan

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Hidan actually did the smart thing for once and planned on how to ambush his target. He knew that he was a powerful close combat fighter and that it wouldn't be too hard to get some of his blood. The only problem was getting and staying inside the circle. Then he came across a brilliant idea. Hidan moved about a mile ahead of where the target and his group were heading and cut his arm. He ran the blood in a huge circle; it was a few hundred feet in circumference. Then he created a triangle inside that enormous circle, completing the diagram of the holy symbol of Jashin. Now he could have the battle inside the circle so when he got some blood it didn't matter where he was as long as he was inside the circle, the ritual would work and Sesshomaru would die.

He waited for a small while before Sesshomaru, his companions were an imp named Jaken, a small girl named Rin and a strange two headed reptilian horse-like demon. He waited until they were well inside the circle before throwing his scythe at the white haired demon, the rope attached to it making sure that he didn't lose it easily.

The guy's reflexes were sharp, he must have heard the air move or something because he dodged out of the way, moving backwards and drawing his sword, Tokijin from his belt. Hidan quickly drew his scythe back in and stepped out of his hiding place. He had removed his mask and cloak in preparation for a fight.

He didn't say anything, he just struck with incredible speed, not landing a hit upon the demon, but coming close to one. In their current environment, the slightest wound would be fatal to Sesshomaru. Hidan knew that he had to bring the fight to a swift conclusion so as the battle raged, holy scythe and demonic blade clashing; Hidan waited until he caught his opponent's sword with his scythe, and then formed a spike in his left hand and stabbed it into Sesshomaru's leg. The demon faltered, just for a second but it was enough for the White Testament.

He struck as fast as he could and slit the demon's throat, much to the shock and dismay upon his companions' faces. He walked off knowing that his job was complete. Chimera would be able to enter before long.

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In Hell

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Chimera was asleep when he got the message that the world's shield was destroyed. He hauled himself out of bed with mutterings of 'Too fast motherfuckers.' And 'I am going to kill those guys for waking me up.' As he prepared to enter the second world in as many days.

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And that is the chapter. What do you guys think? Like it, hate it whatever, tell me. Feel free to give me your world ideas; I do give them some thought. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	27. Chapter 27

Greetings one and all, this is the official release of Naruto the Chimera chapter twenty seven, feel free to celebrate, no one

Greetings one and all, this is the official release of Naruto the Chimera chapter twenty seven, feel free to celebrate, no one will blame you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else I use, except for my own ideas.

Note: Misashi Kishimoto has killed Itachi, and if you have been reading the most recent manga, you will know that he is doing the equivalent of pissing on the man's grave.

Alright then, without further boredom in the form of my opening monologue, let the chapter that you have all been waiting for since the debut of chapter twenty six begin!

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Summary of last chapter

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They world of Avatar was destroyed, the Testaments met another Archduke of Hell, and the Inuyasha world was invaded, with Kikyo, Kagome, Inuyasha and his group, Sesshomaru, and Naraku murdered. The Testaments have corrupted the Sacred Shikon Jewel and the barrier is about to break.

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With the four Testaments

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They were still waiting for the barrier to be destroyed.

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In Hell, with Chimera

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Chimera had gotten out of bed, taken a quick shower, and then eaten breakfast, served by Azula he bought all three of them, and then proceeded to take his time with a few other things. They decided to do the job quickly so they should learn to deal with some down time. He did one other thing before he left though.

In the Statue room, he brought in some poor bastard he bought specifically for the occasion, and killed him. He moved the blood into a circle and wrote several lines of intricate calligraphic runes inside of it and stepped within it. He took the noose from around his neck; the noose that would heal any injury given enough time, the only exception would be itself. That was the only thing that it wouldn't protect against. He intended to correct that flaw.

Objects like the noose were created by weaving chakra into specific patterns and flows throughout the material of the object in question. Chimera then unsealed his sword and cut the rope making up the noose, and then sealed it away. He had to work quickly for this. He rapidly entered his own chakra into the circle, trapping the noose's released power inside of it with him.

The power had nowhere to go, nor could it dissipate due to the circle. In such circumstances, it could only do one thing. Bond with something else, as it was its nature to do so. There was only one thing that it could bind with its powers. Chimera. The energy did what it was meant to do and entered Chimera's body, weaving throughout his body. It was not a painless procedure, the pain was immense, but Chimera stayed stoic until it was done.

When it was finished, he just grinned. He had eliminated a weakness and at the same time made an incredible healing factor his own. Now even piercing his heart or brain would not kill him. You would have to obliterate him completely. He would have done this sooner, but he didn't know about the possibility.

Chimera grinned to himself even more as he contemplated the slaughter to come while he unsealed his sword and opened the portal to the world he sent his Testaments into. With a mighty cry, he slammed that dark blade into the shield and felt it crack. He did so again and felt joy as he saw the shield shatter. Then he stepped through the portal he just opened, into a new world once more.

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With the Testaments

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They ended up waiting for about five hours before Chimera showed up. Hidan just asked "What the hell took you so long?"

For Chimera, recently going through a painful ritual did NOT put him in much of a good mood. He just said "Screwing your mother, now let's get started, I discovered a bit of an anomaly and it has to be taken care of ASAP as soon as we're done here. So don't screw with me."

He moved past the surprised Testaments and summoned the King of Hell Statue. He released all nine Bijuu this time. He had them spread out across land, sea, and sky to destroy everything they saw. He also had Kakuzu and the others using massive destruction jutsu such as the Fuuton: Atsugai, Sasori spreading deadly poisons and Deidara using his C3 and C4 to destroy targets as soon as possible. Chimera wasn't screwing around, he wanted to get done quickly. He even used the Gogyou Rasenshuriken a few times in order to destroy tough targets because he didn't want to waste time.

The world had a lot of travelers and they made the entire thing into one gigantic pain in the ass to get them all. More than once they thought they were done only to use the human life detection jutsu before they left just to find that there were a few travelers hiding in caves, or priests hiding underneath some temple.

All of that combined with Chimera's impatience made it a living hell for everyone involved. But, over the course of three months, they finally got it done. Every human was eliminated, as were the humanoid demons and half demons of the world. I took some time, but every last target eventually went down. Hidan hunted down that little girl that had been with Sesshomaru and finished the job he started; he did the same with that little imp too. Everyone eventually got their share of the attention. Fatal attention that they didn't want, but they received it nonetheless. They eventually went back to Hell where most would say they belonged and they would be right on that particular score. When they finally got back, Chimera informed his vassals what had him in such hurry.

"Okay, there are two things that are going wrong here. One is caused by an unknown something that I do not have any intelligence on, and the other is caused by a fuckup I made a short while ago, about a thousand years, not long. Anyway the first is the shield of the next world, it is already cracked."

Before he could go on, Hidan interrupted "How is that a bad thing? Wouldn't that help in our goal, overall?"

Chimera just sighed and said "Satan, give me strength**. No you idiot! It is a bad thing; it means that someone else is trying to do what I have been doing thus far. This little enterprise is creating a lot of revenue for me based on the **amount of high quality souls coming down the tunnel. Someone else is trying to muscle in on MY market here and it is royally pissing me off. The only one who could crack the shield is another Archduke, or maybe one of the higher level demons. Either way it will be** a pain in the ass to deal with them, whoever it is. Damn it to Heaven this is NOT what I need.**" At that point Chimera took a deep breath and tried to explain the situation to the Testaments, who were quite surprised. None of them had seen Chimera like this before.

"Listen, Hell does not run itself. The four Archdukes, me and the other three, take care of things as best we can, but really underneath the surface, it is one gigantic war of influence between the four of us over who has rights on the best souls, **who has the merchants and other businesses under control, it is one gigantic war of influence. Yes, we play nice and smile, **but really everybody is basically trying to fuck over everybody else in one big battle of politics. This entire thing would have put this whole war thing to bed for a few hundred thousand years at least, if not end it forever, but now someone else is trying to steal my thunder, and come out on top. THAT, Hidan is why this is so bad. Luckily for me I have the Bijuu under my control and with them I can crack the shields, and then send you guys through."

The four Testaments stayed silent through all of this. They never had any idea that there were other motives behind all of the genocide. Hidan asked "Two questions, one, why is this so important, and two you said something about you screwing up in the past or something. What is all that supposed to mean?"

Chimera just looked at him and said "First off, this is important because if I go down, the other three Archdukes will go to war over my holdings. Most likely whoever ends up on top will NOT be nearly as good at all this as I am. And that is what will happen if this goes south. I am at the top for now and have been for a while,** but anyone will seize power if they think they can. War must be avoided between the Archdukes. Hell would become an absolute mess**. That can not be allowed to happen. When devils and demons fight, the priests and angels win and nobody wants that."

Kakuzu just said "Aren't you the strongest of the four though?"

Chimera just looked at him and said "Yes, but that hardly matters against Hell in its entirety. If nobody respects and obeys me, it is only a matter of time before the others want to try and take me out. This past millennium alone I have had a grand total of 20,419 assassination attempts that could be traced to my fellow Archdukes. Then again I have tried the same thing against each of the three of them at least as many times so I cannot complain.

This entire thing was my plan to avoid that possibility of war. Anyway it hardly matters now; inter-dimensional war among demons is not your concern. As for my previous fuck-up, that's quite easy to explain."

Chimera looked at them and said "Before I returned to our original world, I tried taking a world by myself. I was not strong enough to break the shield. I cracked it, but it was nowhere near big enough of a crack. It started healing over as I was going through and part of me was trapped in there. Not much, about one hundredth of a percent, but the nature of the shields makes that a problem. **Now that that damn shield has felt my power, it has somehow guarded itself against anything else. In other words, no one other than myself can possibly enter that world. That **is why I send you guys in first. To destroy the shields. Once a shield has a demon within it, nothing else can enter, and what is inside cannot leave, until the shield is destroyed, or until the demon is dead. I don't know why it works like that it just does, like a gigantic demon trap. That basically means that I have to go into that world myself and I will be trapped there until my job is done. I will have to leave the home front unguarded. It doesn't help that the piece of me was destroyed which indicates some level of competence and power among the residents."

"But that is another problem for another time. There are **three worlds to take care of before I have to incarcerate myself in there. Two are shielded and the third is that copy world I told you about. Let us get started on the first of the **shielded worlds, the one already cracked. Nothing entered so you guys can enter it freely." At that point, Chimera walked into the Statue room the others following, while Chimera closed the door after the last of them had entered.

"The world you are going to attack next is a bit of a unique one. It is a world of pirates. A demon tried going through a few millennia ago and he ended up as a number of demonic fruits known as 'Devil Fruits' that give its eater some specific power in exchange for their ability to swim. There is only one target and it is EXTREMLEY hard to get to. There was a man called Gol D. Roger who possessed the gem that powers the shield and he hid it inside his treasure trove on an island called Raftel. This island is at the end of what is known as the 'Grand Line' among a treasure known as 'One Piece' that is legendary in that world. Unfortunately for you I can only send you to an island near the beginning of the Grand Line. It will be your job to obtain a ship and get to this One Piece first, understand? Good, now get ready, I have to try and figure out who is trying to screw me over and mitigate any possible damage while you guys are gone. Trust me, you won't be finishing early this time around. Bon Voyage!" And with that the Statue was awakened, the Shield was cracked and the Testaments entered the world of One Piece. Then Chimera left his home to inquire as to who was trying to ruin his plan to both win control of Hell forever and complete his personal agenda of genocide.

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In the One Piece world

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The four Testaments entered the old on a rather large island known as Alabasta. It was an enormous desert. That combined with strange animals made it a rather interesting lace to say the least.

The four did not really need to deal with the heat since after all, they were shinobi, they could use their own chakra to cool themselves. It was an advanced chakra control exercise in some villages way back when.

The main problem was finding a ship. There weren't many for sale and those that were up on the market had their owners gouging a bloody fortune for them. As a result they did what any competent ninjas did best… gather information.

They spread out and did their best to find out as much about that world as possible. It was quite extensive. Apparently their target, Raftel, was almost on the exact opposite point on the planet as they were on now. Chimera wasn't fucking around when he said that they would be there for a while.

They learned of pirates, the marines, the Shichibukai, the Yonkou, and the world government. They learned of everything they could in order to assist them in eventually reaching Raftel.

Since they did not particularly want to get a job, they ended up in engaging in a bit of casual piracy… which was stealing the biggest, most expensive, and the best stocked ship in the city in which they were located. It was about 80 ft. from bow to stern and there were a dozen cannons on each side as well as two mounted in the front and two mounted in the back. Naturally stealing this wonderful boat got the local Navy to respond and send out pursuit boats. A single blast from Kakuzu's Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu and they were all blown out of the water.

Needless to say, they soon made a name for themselves. Going from island to island destroying everything there, and stealing anything and everything worth taking got them a bounty and a nickname as the 'four man death squad' and since no one saw them out of their Testament uniforms, they were simply known by the names they told the one person who lived through any of their attacks, because they let him. Red Testament, Blue Testament, Black Testament, and White Testament, ever since then they were known as the Testament Pirates. They decided that if they were going to be called pirates, they should have a pirate flag. Their chosen design was the mask each of them wore, split into quarters equal parts red, blue, black, and white. At first they each had a bounty of 5,000,000 Beli, which was their money. As things progressed and they made their way further into the Grand Line, the bounty increased more and more since they killed any Marines they encountered. Commanders, Captains, and even one Admiral had fallen to them. By the time three months was over, they each had a bounty of 200,000,000. By the time they reached the halfway point of the Grand Line, the Red Line and entered the Shabondy Archipelago which lay near it, they each had a bounty of 700,000,000 Beli apiece.

Shabondy Archipelago was a group of extremely large Mangrove trees that formed each island. They were each numbered from 0 to 79 in order to know where you were, and groves 0-29 were considered the 'lawless zone'. There were marines, pirates, kidnappers and troublemakers of every description since everyone who wanted to get past the Red Line had to go there. This place rested near the wall that was the Red Line which blocked the Grand Line. There were two ways to get past the Red Line. The first was to get permission to go into the Holy City Mariejola which rested on top of the Red Line and go down the other side, getting a new boat on the way, or they could get their ship coated in the Shabondy Mangrove's special sap by a mechanic specialist and go under the sea, through a hole in the Red Line that passed by the Merman island and go through the other side, keeping your ship.

The main thing about the Archipelago was that it was the only place to cross the Red Line. As a result every major pirate on the Southern half of the Grand Line heading to the New World was there at the time. As well as the lords of Mariejola the Tenryuubito which were descended from the twenty kings that founded the world government. They were considered superior to everyone else and did not even consider themselves human. They were so stuck up that whenever one of them came down to the Archipelago for whatever reason they wore special suits so that they wouldn't have to breath the same air as the 'commoners'. It kind of helped in their arrogance that they could do whatever the wanted without reprisal and anyone who actually harmed a Tenryuubito was targeted by an army of marines led by an Admiral.

The Testaments knew that they couldn't possibly get permission to enter Mariejola since no pirate had a snowball's chance in hell, nor did they want to get their ship coated. They thought of another way to cross the Red Line, and have some fun along the way, but they decided to have a day on the town first, and God help any Tenryuubito that tried anything because no one else would.

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Grove 13, with the Straw Hat crew

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The Straw-hat pirates were rookies who worked together to make their captain the next king of the pirates. Each and every one of them had a bounty. Chopper, their doctor, had a bounty of 50 Beli due to a misconception. Their navigator, Nami, had a bounty of 16,000,000. Usopp, the chief gunman had a bounty of 20,000,000. Sanji, the chef, had a bounty of 77,000,000 and their carpenter Frankie had a bounty of 44,000,000. Their most recent recruit to the crew, Brook the skeletal musician had a 33,000,000 Beli bounty. Their Historian, Nico Robin, had a bounty of 80,000,000, while the first mate, Roranora Zoro, had a bounty of 120,000,000. And the captain, Monkey D. Luffy himself had a bounty of no less than 300,000,000 Beli. With them were Hachi an octopus merman and ex-pirate and his friend Caime who was a mermaid as well as her pet starfish, which could talk, Pappaag. They were in the Archipelago looking for an old friend of Hachi's by the name of Rayleigh who was an ex-pirate at the coffee shop run by a woman called Shakky who was another ex-pirate and friend of Hachi. They left Usopp, Frankie, and Sanji to watch over the ship though, and Zoro was God knows where, and Nami and Robin were off shopping in one of the island's tourist areas.

Rayleigh the mechanic was not there however and according to Shakky, he hadn't been for about 6 months. This was normal apparently as neither Hachi nor Shakky showed any concern, but it would be a pain to find him. Shakky was just serving them some food and telling them where he might be found and other important information. She was a very well informed person.

She had just started thinking of places where he might be found. "Hmmm, let's see. He's almost guaranteed to be in groves 0-29 since he is rather famous and he couldn't let his guard down near the marines. So he could be anywhere there, though he does enjoy the Shabondy Park." At that point Luffy exclaimed "YEAH, the Amusement Park! Let's check there first!"

Shakky just looked at him and said "Yeah well wherever you look you should stay on your guard. If my information is correct since you people landed here that makes 15! Fifteen bounties exceeding one hundred million, so that's thirteen other than yourself and Roranora-chan!"

"THAT MANY!!" That was Chopper, overreacting to potentially powerful enemies again.

Shakky asked him "You entered through one of the five paths from the Grand Line entrance right, and then followed that compass all the way here?" When Luffy nodded, she continued "Well, naturally people have traveled the other four, going on adventures and experiencing the world just like you have and eventually made it here. No matter which route you take, you will end up hitting the Red Line, and in order to get past that wall, they eventually come here. So all the rookies that made it this far will congregate here, it isn't something to be taken lightly."

At this point Shakky took a puff of her cigarette "The Testaments, Kid, Luffy, Hawkins, Drake, Law, these names have been decorating the papers for quite a while now."

Luffy just said "I don't usually read the newspapers."

She just looked at him oddly and said "Hm, you should you know, after all knowledge is power. You should at least want to know the names of your rivals. If we're going by bounty value than you're number six right now!"

Chopper lost it again "You mean there are FIVE people better than Luffy here on this island!?"

She nodded and said "The top fifteen bounties, from bottom to top this side of the Red Line go like this:

First but least there is the captain of the Fallen Monk pirates, mystery monk Urouge with a bounty of 108,000,000.

Next up is the first mate of the Straw hat pirates, Roranora Zoro with a bounty of 120,000,000.

After that there is the captain of the fire-tank pirates, Capone Gang Bege with a bounty of 138,000,000, followed by Jewelry Bonney, captain of the Bonney pirates with a bounty of 140,000,000.

Than there is the first mate of the Kid Pirates, 'Massacre man' Killer with a bounty of 162,000,000. After him there is captain of the On Air pirates 'Roar of the Sea' Scratchmen Apoo with a bounty of 198,000,000.

After him there is the captain of the Heart Pirates, the 'Dark Doctor' Trafalgar Law with a bounty of 200,000,000. Then there's the captain of the Drake Pirates 'Red Flag' X Drake with a bounty of 222,000,000.

Then the bounties get really big, there is the captain of the Hawkins pirates, 'The Magician' Basil Hawkins with a bounty of 249,000,000.

Just ahead of him there's you Luffy-Chan with your 300,000,000 bounty as Captain of the Straw Hat pirates.

Then there is the Captain of the Kid Pirates Captain Eustass Kid with a bounty of no less than 315,000,000. Don't worry I am sure you could take him. Anything less than a bounty difference of 50,000,000 can be overcome with determination and good judgment in a fight. Beyond that, you might want to get some help.** (1)**

This is where the bounties get absolutely ENORMOUS. The top four make up the smallest crew on the Grand Line with just four people. They are known as the Testament Pirates or the 'Four man Death Squad', since no one has survived there attacks except for one person who they let live to get their names out there, and HE died less than a week later. They wear the same uniform, which comes with a mask so no one knows what they look like. The only way to tell the four apart is because the colors are different. Each wears the exact same thing only one is in red, another in blue, another in black, and the last one is in white. This is how they got the names Red Testament, Blue Testament, Black Testament and White Testament. The only immediately discernable difference among them is that the Blue one doesn't wear gloves, the Red one is very short, the Black one is very tall and the White one carries a large three bladed scythe on his back. They are the most dangerous pirates in the world outside of the Yonkou themselves based on bounties as they each have a bounty of exactly 700,000,000."

Each of them was shocked. None of them had ever seen a bounty so big, ever. Chopper just stammered "A-and all four of them are here?" Shakky nodded and Luffy just smiled. He said "I bet those guys would be fun to fight." Shakky just looked at him and said "Hey, it's your funeral kid. Whatever you do though, don't underestimate them, each one of those guys had taken down several big names. I don't know which one, but one of those four killed captain Smoker of the Marines not too long ago, hell they even took out an Admiral a few months ago, well one of them did, not sure which one. That combined with the fact that any one of them has almost as much on their head as your entire crew put together does NOT spell good news in a fight." They looked a bit more surprised, they had encountered Smoker and they had always barely managed to escape. These Testaments were not to be messed with lightly apparently if they managed to take him down.

Shakky just said "Well, good luck on your search for Rayleigh, now could you guys go? I am hoping to get a few more customers before the day is over."

Hachi just nodded and said "Thanks for the help Shakky; we'll see you when we find Rayleigh." She just nodded and waved them off as the lot of them left.

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With Hidan and Kakuzu

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The pair of them were just wandering the lawless zone. It was a very interesting place. Definitely more entertaining, that's for sure. Nothing is as much fun as a bunch of bounty hunters coming after your head every few minutes, no sir.

They eventually wandered into a rather dramatic scene. One of the Tenryuubito was pushing his weight around. So far he had shot one man in the head, killing him, taken the man's fiancée to be his thirteenth wife, and kicked a mortally wounded man out of a stretcher because the doctors tending to him had to move and not kneel and bow their heads in order to save his life. He was a typical spoiled brat turned thug. He had an obvious Superiority complex, arrogance out the wazoo, probably more money than a horde of bad gamblers would know what to do with, the works. Well, the works and a human carrying you around. That bit just went a tad overboard.

The pair looked around and saw none other than Jewelry Bonney, Capone, Scratchmen, Urouge, and Hawkins among the crowd, doing their best to remain unnoticed by the tyrannical noble before them. As the man continued to do as he pleased, flunkies nearby carrying out his orders. Hidan whispered into Kakuzu's ear about if he had permission to kill him. He didn't much like tyrannical nobles. Kakuzu just said "Do what you want, just be prepared to back up word with action." Then he jumped onto a nearby roof to watch the show.

Hidan didn't make a big entrance. He just walked down the street like a normal person, regardless of the Tenryuubito right there. He didn't adjust his pace, bow his head, or give any sort of respect. The Tenryuubito was shocked. His thoughts were along the lines of 'How DARE this commoner disrespect me! It is not possible! He should be bowing down before me!' or something like that. What he actually did was stare in shock, and he wasn't alone either, but he was alone for his reasons of shock.

He and his servants were the only ones there that didn't recognize the White Testament. Everyone there was shocked and surprised. Sure they knew that the Testaments were on the Archipelago, but they didn't expect to actually SEE one of them. They watched on in dread, wondering what he would do to the Tenryuubito. Not one of them could actually stop him, they would end up dead and everyone there knew it. Their future was entirely based upon the man's actions at this moment.

The Tenryuubito just shouted "Impossible, another worm dares stand before me!" and pulled out his pistol and shot Hidan in the chest. It was a crystalline moment. No one moved, no one made a sound, when a voice came from behind that mask. A taunting voice that made its owners condescension clear. The voice said "Is that all you've got?" Then, quick as lightning, the white garbed man took his scythe from his back and in one swift movement cut off the Tenryuubito's head. Moving swiftly he killed the beyond shocked servants to the man.

Everyone was shocked and surprised beyond belief. The man had killed a Tenryuubito! It was horrible, an Admiral with an army in tow would be dispatched to the island and everyone there would be arrested.

Jewelry Bonney acted first. She went up to the man and yelled right in his face "DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!"

He just looked at her and said "Yeah, I killed a Tenryuubito, so what?"

She looked like she was going to explode "SO, YOU IDIOT, AN ADMIRAL WILL BE COMING HERE! YOU HAVE JUST SOLD US ALL TO THE NAVY!"

He smirked beneath his mask and said "It hardly matters, we've taken down Admirals before and compared to what we have planned for later, this is nothing." Then he just walked off without looking back, startle and surprised pirates behind him.

The four of them met up at their boat and got ready to go. In order for them to get by the Red Line, they were going to have Deidara tie some of his birds to the boat and literally fly over the wall. It actually worked. Everyone saw them, a flying ship, it was an unreal sight. Soon that amazement turned to horror. The reason was obvious, massive statue shaped bombs were being dropped upon Mariejola as they flew over the city, causing massive explosions on the world's capital.

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(1) Just for the record, these characters are NOT OC's. They are all from the most recent Manga.

And the chapter is done. This is the first time a world took more than a chapter, but this will only last until the next chapter, I can guarantee that much. There is only one world left so make your suggestions. The one I think is best will get the spot. The world Chimera will have to personally enter has already been chosen. SO, wrack your brains and come up with a good one!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	28. Chapter 28

Hey, how's it going

Hey, how's it going? This is the boring intro bit to Naruto the Chimera chapter twenty eight. Enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else I use in this story, except for my own ideas and concepts, those are mine… I think.

Note: Kishimoto has stunned me once again. Anyone who has read Naruto chapter 401 knows roughly what I am talking about. I say roughly because the sheer amount of fuckup in that chapter alone may be enough to force the brain to repress the memories to avoid permanent mental scarring. Apparently Itachi was ordered to kill the Uchiha clan by order of Danzo, Homura, Koharu, and the Sandaime, because the Uchiha clan was planning a coup de tat of the village. All well and good but he was supposed to kill Sasuke too.

The man killed his parents, friends, family, and his girlfriend, but he could not kill Sasuke. Every action that Itachi has done since then was to get Sasuke more power and to let the little bastard kill him, which he did. He explained that weird heart attack looking thing that happened to Itachi though, apparently he was sick and taking tons of medicine just to stay alive so Sasuke could kill him. A normal person would be long dead. Personally it sounds like he's ripping off Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho on that one. Everything he did was so that Sasuke could live and recreate the Uchiha clan, and be seen as a hero due to him killing Itachi. Is it just me or does that sound like a one sided Ita/Sasu pairing in the manga that Kishimoto made? Knowing that yaoi fanboy, I wouldn't be too surprised if I was right on the money with that one. Oh, and then Madara lets the little bastard go for no reason and you see Sasuke looking at the sea as the chapter ends, WHAT THE HELL! This is just paraphrasing it though. In order to get the full shock that this chunk of bullshit of a chapter provides, you need to see it yourself, just be prepared and don't let small children look over you shoulder as you read, it might scar them for life, hell it might scar YOU for life. Don't let any old people read it either. The sheer amount of pure bullshit might give them a heart attack. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Okay, mental scarring of me and others over, on with the chapter.

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Summary, kind of, of the last chapter

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Chimera explained a bit more about his motives and what is happening behind the scenes in Hell. Then he sent his Testaments to the One Piece world, where their target is on Raftel, the same island as the legendary treasure One Piece. At the end of the chapter, they crossed the gigantic wall known as the Red Line, raining C3 bombs upon Mariejola, the world's capital city. Let the story continue!

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Shabondy Archipelago

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It was nothing but fear and confusion upon the Shabondy Archipelago, for the Straw Hat Crew and everyone else. The Testament Pirates as they were known had just attacked the world's capital, and the marines were swarming like angry hornets. Everyone was getting away from the Archipelago as fast as they could, either escaping to the New World through the Fishman Island, or retreating back into the Southern half of the Grand Line. At least fifty percent of the city was destroyed in the bombing so everyone was getting as far away as possible. The remaining eleven members of the 'fifteen supernovas', the fifteen pirates with bounties of over one hundred million, made it into the New World.

The Straw Hats managed to find Silvers Rayleigh in the confusion. He was a kind, if odd, old man who had actually been Gol D. Roger's first mate during his reign. They got the man to coat their ship in the special sap of the Shabondy Mangrove and they managed to escape under the sea to the Fishman Island. It was close though. A few minutes after they left marines stormed the island. At the same time a large marine army led by Admiral Aokiji was sent after the Testament Pirates. The other two were killed in the bombing, as were most of the Vice Admirals. The only ones who survived weren't in the capital and Luffy's grandfather Monkey D. Garp was among the deceased.

Grand Admiral Sengoku was injured but alive and two of the Gorousei were killed, the other three badly injured, others among the fallen were Bartholomew Kuma, Blackbeard and his crew, as well as Jimbei and Kuzomaru of the Shichibukai. The bounties of the Testament Pirates were each raised to 1,200,000,000 Beli each. The bounty that was possessed by Edward Newgate, also known as Whitebeard who was regarded as the strongest man in the world as well as one of the four Yonkou who fought on par with Gol D. Roger in his prime was just 1,800,000,000. They were six hundred million away from being publicly acknowledged to being the equal of greatest threat in the world to the government. **(1)**

The Straw hats made it to the Fishman Island, and it was there that they managed to get a distinct report on the attack on the capital. They saw the new wanted posters for each of the four Testaments and saw the new bounties of one billion, two hundred million Beli for each of them and they were shocked. Any one of them had four times Luffy's bounty and almost twice that of the entire crew put together. Luffy also saw the notice of Monkey D. Garp's death and he was very quiet for a few days. The next time he spoke was when they left the island, heading into the New World, leaving Caime and Pappag behind, but taking Hachi with them. The Straw Hat crew had a new member. **(2)**

They were the last to leave the Island and it was a good thing too. The quicker ones to leave, Capone, Urogue, and Bonney were all captured by either marines or bounty hunters. The rest managed to get past the blockade of ships the government had set up near the Red Line except for Captain Scratchman Apoo who was killed by Captain Kidd. The fifteen supernovas were reduced to eleven, but they made it through.

Nami had gotten some interesting information the next day however. She had apparently rigged some of the Marines' communications somehow and she managed to listen in on an important exchange. Apparently the Testament Pirates were making a stand against the army sent after them on a nearby uninhabited island. Luffy ordered that they head for that island; he wanted revenge for his grandfather. Let us hope he does not turn out like Uchiha Sasuke, shall we?

When they got to the island in question, they saw a very impressive sight. There were almost forty ships there, all of them the size of the vessels used during the Buster Call on Enies Lobby. They were all opening fire on the four land-bound Testaments. All of that firepower and they were losing. Every last cannon shell was in midair by counter fire from one of the four while the Black and Blue Testaments were attacking the ships one by one. As they watched one of the ships was taken down by a large burst of lightning and another exploded upon contacting several large birds. It was quite a fight.

Eventually though, almost every ship was destroyed. There were only a few left and they were being picked off. Eventually though, Admiral Aokiji himself and a squad of four of the ships best jumped over board and onto the water that was frozen by the Admiral just before the ship was destroyed, others would have gone with them but they didn't get the chance before the ship went down. It was just Admiral Aokiji and his A-team against the four Testament Pirates. They would have helped but they had trouble navigating their ship through the treacherous waters near the island. They were forced to watch as the four men Aokiji had with him were slaughtered by the White Testament's scythe while Aokiji himself fought the Black Testament while the others watched. Despite the Admiral's best efforts though, he could not land a single hit upon the Black clad figure, every attack with water, ice, or anything else was deflected.

Eventually though Aokiji managed to get his opponent to show his back to the sea and the trap was sprung. With a single powerful blow he launched his opponent into the air. The Black Testament fell into the ocean, the bane of all users of a devil fruit. The more open Straw Hats let out a cheer as they saw the man sink. That same cry died almost immediately as he surfaced again and his arm stretched out, connected by strange strings to his torso and grabbed Aokiji's neck and threw him into the sea. He was too surprised to do anything; otherwise he could have frozen the water or turned his own body into ice to avoid the attack. He didn't however and he splashed into the ocean where his devil fruit powers couldn't be used. The Straw Hats were in shock, you couldn't use devil fruit powers when you were in the ocean, how did the Black Testament do that, it wasn't possible. Hachi jumped into the water, racing for Aokiji, hoping to reach him before he drowned. Hachi was an octopus fishman and they could _really_ haul ass in water. All fishmen could of course, but octopus fishmen made any other breed look slow by comparison and Hachi was fast compared to most other octopus fishment.

He would have made it, it would have been a really close shave, but he would have made it in time to save the icy Admiral if the Black Testament hadn't reached out with his arm and backhanded Hachi. He flew back about thirty feet and landed on a piece of debris from one of the fallen ships, unconscious. They neared the island as the four made their way to their ship and those strange white birds lifted into the air, carrying the ship with them as they flew northward. Luffy tried to reach them and Usopp fired a few cannon shells, but none of them reached the flying ship. "Get back here you cowards!" Luffy yelled at them, but they didn't stop. They heard a reply though "See you at Raftel, if you can make it!" Luffy just hung his head, too pissed off for words as he went inside to try and cool off while Sanji dived to go retrieve Hachi.

That was how it went for the next several months. They made their way through the New World, the second half of the Grand Line. They heard reports on the Testaments every few days through either Nami's hacked Marine communications or through the every day newspaper. Apparently the bounty of each Testament was raised to one billion four hundred million each and then one billion seven hundred million each as they killed the Yonkou members Kaihou and Saromaru. **(3)**

The bounties reached an even two billion apiece when they killed the Yonkou member Red Haired Shanks, Luffy's childhood mentor and every member of his crew. Whitebeard added a few more crimes to his wanted sheet and received an equal bounty to that. Those five were the most likely to become the next King of the Pirates. Over time almost every member of the remaining 'eleven supernovas' was captured the only ones left were Luffy, Zoro, Killer, Kid, Hawkins, and Law. All the others had been captured or killed. Of those six all of them had gotten stronger and at least doubled their bounty. Law was at 500,000,000, Hawkins was at 490,000,000, Killer was at 350,000,000 and Kid was at 700,000,000.

Of the Straw Hats, their bounties increased as well as they went on their adventures. Chopper had that misunderstanding cleared up and had a bounty of 90,000,000. Nami had a bounty of 60,000, Usopp had a 70,000,000 bounty, and Hachi had a bounty of 75,000,000. Franky and Brooke had bounties of 80,000,000 each and Sanji had his bounty raised to an even 100,000,000. Robin had a bounty of 130,000,000 and Zoro had a bounty of 400,000,000 after killing 'Hawkeye' Mihawk and claiming his title as the best swordsman in the world. Luffy's bounty was 700,000,000 for defeating Donquixote Doflamingo who was the most powerful of the Shichibukai. He was equal in bounty to captain Kid who was his chief rival and equal to the Testaments when they were at the Shabondy Archipelago. They were about three quarters of the way through the New World at this point.

Luffy grew to hate the Testaments even more as he heard of the death of Shanks at their hands. Then they got a very important bit of information on Nami's hacked communications, the Testaments were attacking Whitebeard's pirate Armada not far from there. They left for the location without a moment's hesitation.

When they got there it was a blood bath. Most of Whitebeard's forces were destroyed and the only ones left on his side were the leaders of his first and third divisions. Everyone else was gone, the Whitebeard Pirates that were once the largest crew in the entire world were reduced to three individuals. The first division leader was fighting the Red Testament and losing badly while his third division leader was already dead with a hole through his chest from when he fought the White Testament. Whitebeard himself was fighting the Black Testament one on one while the Blue Testament kept anyone from interfering. Whitebeard was in trouble, right before his eyes he saw his first division leader fall to the Red Testament, full of needles, and everyone else was gone. It was just him against the four Testaments, but he was only fighting one at the time. At least it didn't look like any of the others planned on joining in; if they did he would be screwed.

Everyone was surprised that every strike of the old man's halberd was deflected by the Black Testament. They didn't know how but no attack could reach him. The old captain had to move quickly to avoid elemental blasts that were fired from four masked creatures of black tendrils as well as the Testament's physical strikes which were quite powerful on their own. As they watched Whitebeard was hit by a blast of lightning and was caught off-guard.

The Black clad pirates arms disconnected from the rest of his body save for a few strings and grabbed Whitebeard's head and then pulled downward with great force. This literally punched the old man's head through the floor. The Black Testament grabbed his opponent's shoulders and savagely twisted. Whitebeard's neck snapped with a sharp and ugly crack. Without any sort of signal or prompt they immediately boarded their ship and the strange birds lifted the entire ship into the air. They silently made their way back on course to the end of the Grand Line, Raftel, shocked at what they saw. The next day reported the death of Whitebeard and his crew and new wanted posters that proclaimed the heads of the Testaments were worth 2,500,000,000 apiece. This was equal to the bounty of Gol D. Roger, the last pirate king.

They were a few weeks from Raftel when they got an important bit of news. Two important bits actually. The first was that Basil Hawkins and his crew had bee arrested and that Kid's first mate, Killer, had been assassinated by Trafalgar Law. The second piece of information was that Monkey D. Dragon, Luffy's father, was killed by the Testament Pirates. The man went down hard though, he actually hurt the Blue Testament quite a bit. He went down but he went down fighting. That meant that the fight to become the next pirate king was between the Testaments, Monkey D. Luffy, Eustass Kid, and Trafalgar Law. Two days away from Raftel they got the news that Eustass Kid and his crew had been murdered by the Heart Pirates led by Trafalgar Law and his bounty was increased to 720,000,000. The four way battle had been reduced to three. The world waited with baited breath as they wondered who would become the next Pirate King.

They had finally done it; they had reached the end of the Grand Line, Raftel the legendary home of the great treasure One Piece. The island itself wasn't very impressive; it was a flat circular expanse of rock about twenty miles in diameter with a mountain in the center. On that mountain was a series of steps leading into a cave. That was where One Piece was hidden, there at the end of the world. The Testaments were already there, as were the Heart Pirates.

They were already fighting near the shore. The Heart Pirates weren't the biggest of crews, the best almost never were. All three crew there focused on quality rather than quantity. Law only had thirty pirates under his command, but they each had bounties of at least 70,000,000. They weren't pushovers.

Compared to the Testaments, however, they were. Trafalgar Law's thirty men were slain by the Testament Pirates, leaving Law himself against the Testaments and the Straw Hats who had just made it to the shore and disembarked upon Raftel, facing their five enemies. They didn't say a word, there was nothing to say, they each knew what they were here for. It was the Straw Hat Pirates, consisting of Monkey D. Luffy, Roranora Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Black leg Sanji, Nico Robin, Franky, Brooke, and Hachi versus the Testament Pirates consisting of the Red, Blue, Black, and White Testaments versus Trafalgar Law for the title of King of the Pirates.

Luffy just asked one thing before the battle began. "Which of you dropped those bombs on the capital, which of your killed Shanks, and which of you killed Monkey D. Dragon?" The White Testament looked over and said "It was Deidara here who dropped the bombs, but I killed the other two. Why, were they old boyfriends of yours or something?" He said that last bit in a highly mocking tone. Luffy lost control and rushed the White Testament, blowing him backward and rushing after him. Law saw an opportunity and attacked the Blue Testament, leaving the remaining eight members of the Straw Hat crew to face the Red and Black Testaments on their own. It split up like this, Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, and Hachi attacked the Black Testament while Robin, Nami, Franky, Brooke, and Sanji attacked the Red Testament. The former group left elsewhere, leaving the battle against the Red Testament where it was.

The fight was off to a fast start. Sasori pointed his right hand at the one known as Franky and let loose with the kunai launcher. He had no idea what hit him when his chest and torso collapsed and were pierced through by something he didn't even see. A second blast a second later took off the cyborg's head. He pointed the launcher at Brooke but had to move backwards to avoid a powerful kick from Sanji. He backed right into a pair of hands that sprouted from the ground, courtesy of Nico Robin. He didn't think even for a moment, he just acted. As the hands and arms ensnared him, he pointed his left arm toward the assembled group and launched it. It looked like a missile to them as it started spinning and struck them all with poisoned needles. This was a new poison he had developed that paralyzed the struck target almost immediately, while the rest of the effects of the old poison took effect, painfully killing someone in three days. The only one immune to this effect was Brooke as, being a skeleton; he didn't have any flesh, blood, or anything else too poison. The skeletal swordsman rushed the short figure… and got a nice close up view of the kunai launcher as it went through his skull. Robin and Sanji got the same treatment. Then Sasori went looking for his left arm.

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With Law and Deidara

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Deidara stood alone on that rocky plain, Law was dead and gone. THAT was one hell of a close fight. The guy apparently had the ability to infect anyone he touched with any disease he wanted to, in any stage. That combined with the fact that they guy knew the Rokushiki moves Tekkai, Soru, Geppou, and Rankyaku made him one deadly son of a bitch. Once he realized what was going on, he immediately used a C4 and detonated it when he was out of range, keeping the bomb between him and his opponent. Law didn't know what it was and rushed Deidara, being within two feet of the explosive when it detonated, sending a cloud of clay micro-bombs straight up his nostrils. A single cry of "Katsu!" and a few seconds later Trafalgar Law was no longer of this world.

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With Kakuzu and his group

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Kakuzu was facing off against Chopper, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Hachi.

When they reached an area far away from any other combatants Kakuzu took off his cloak and mask, revealing a second mask underneath covering everything except his eyes and a scratched Takigakure headband. The armor on his torso vanished leaving him in a form fitting tank-top. With a loud cry he crouched over as four masks ripped themselves from his back. His opponents were surprised, they had no idea what was happening. Kakuzu's skin darkened as his skin hardened and his strength increased by the use of the earth heart inside his chest. Before he rushed them however, the one with green hair and the three swords just asked "Hey, what's your real name?"

Kakuzu smirked under his mask and looked him right in the eye and said "Call me Kakuzu, I'll make this quick kid, don't worry." Then he rushed them with all the speed and power of a stampeding elephant, throwing a heavy punch right at Hachi. He was a quick little six-armed bastard though so he managed to avoid it.

What he didn't avoid was the blast of lightning fired from the mouth of one of the masks who had their own bodies made of some kind of strange black string. Kakuzu just yelled out "Raiton: Gian!" and the fishman was engulfed in electricity which was very damaging to a fishman. He wasn't dead, but he was disoriented. It was enough to let Kakuzu get in a powerful blow to the temple, ending the six-armed pirate. Nami let out a small cry and Usopp's face hardened as they saw their friend fall. Kakuzu's masks gathered around him as he faced the four survivors.

He let out a loud cry "Katon: Zukokku!" and one of the four masks expelled fire that spread out across the ground as it approached them. They managed to avoid it, but they couldn't avoid the next attack that came with a cry of "Suiton: Baku Suishoha!" and a torrent of water emitted by one of the masks that caught Chopper and carried him out to sea. They couldn't take their eyes off of him or he would strike them in the back, but Nami had a plan. She used her special staff and manipulated the air currents and temperatures, creating a mirage that made her invisible to Kakuzu while she went to save Chopper.

This would have worked too if Kakuzu hadn't used the mask of wind to expel a large gust in all directions, blowing away the manipulated air and revealing Nami. But she did not know that her illusion was gone. Usopp cried out a warning but it was too late. With a cry of "Fuuton: Atsugai!" A large blast of concentrating slicing wind tore into the orange haired girl and she knew no more.

It was just a very scared Usopp and a very pissed off and determined Zoro against Kakuzu and his four mask creatures. Zoro dashed towards him, attempting to pierce Kakuzu through the heart in his anger. Kakuzu didn't move, knowing that the move would not connect. Then something strange happened. Zoro's sword hit the shield and for about two seconds it was visible as a purple colored barrier around Kakuzu. Then the shield _cracked_ and the sword went through, the shield dissipating completely. The sword continued and pierced Kakuzu's armored skin, piercing his heart. Kakuzu went white with shock beneath his mask and his skin paled as the power of the earth heart vanished and he sank to the ground.

Zoro backed away suspecting a trick and he was right to be cautious. One of the four mask creatures let out a shrill shriek and tossed itself at Kakuzu's back. As the creature neared its creator its tendrils went forward and sank into the ancient man's skin, sewing the mask back into place and within a few seconds it shattered and Kakuzu rose again. He looked at himself and then at Zoro. He simply said "Very impressive boy, no one had taken one of my hearts in almost twenty years, but it will not prevent your fate." While Kakuzu distracted them, the lightning heart snuck up behind Usopp and with a cry of "Raiton: Gian!" Usopp the marksman was burned to a crisp.

Zoro turned to the monstrosity before him and rushed forward, but his leg was caught by one of Kakuzu's arms, his right arm caught in the other hand and two of the mask creatures seized his other two limbs as dozens of tendrils burrowed into Zoro's chest cavity. The last thing Zoro heard was "You will replace the heart you took with your own." Then Kakuzu's tendrils ripped Zoro's heart from his chest and brought it under Kakuzu's skin. He called the other three masks back and they sewed themselves into his back as a new mask formed on his back and was occupied by his water heart, the new earth heart donated by Roranora Zoro settling inside his torso.

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With Hidan and Luffy

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Luffy was pissed off; he was standing before the man that killed both his father and his mentor. Hidan removed his mask and cloak before the battle and slit his wrist, letting blood drip onto the floor, drawing the symbol of Jashin upon the ground. Luffy wasn't intending to let the guy go he immediately went into Gear Second the moment the fight started. With his skin bright red and steaming, he vanished and struck Hidan right in the chest blowing the immortal back. What he didn't count on was the extremely sharp scythe being drawn toward its owner by the rope wrapped around Hidan's arm, scratching Luffy's arm deeply as it soared past and into Hidan's hand. He licked the Straw Hat captain's blood off of the blades, satisfying one of two requirements to use his curse against his foe.

Hidan came up with a plan and set it into motion. He made a few quick handseals and used the "Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!" launching multiple fireballs toward his opponent as he cut his wrist again and began drawing the necessary symbol in it. He overlooked one detail however, Luffy in his Gear Second form was more than fast enough to reach him in time to prevent his curse and he was knocked away again. Knocked away and landing in the first circle he completed when the battle started. His skin turned black and he drew a pike from nowhere and rammed it into his chest, striking his opponent with a lethal blow. The guy had no idea what happened or how he died, but he did.

The four Testaments met in front of the cave that housed One Piece and they entered it. A long passageway and a huge goddamned door later and they stood before the legendary treasure trove. There was gold, jewels, the whole enchilada, but one large glowing gem stood out from the rest. Deidara walked over to the gem and flooded it with his energies, turning the glowing gem dark and black.

A few hours later, Chimera shattered the world's shield.

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(1) Kuzomaru is an OC and most of the bounty numbers came straight out of my behind.

(2) This is my personal prediction as to what will happen in the series. I might be wrong but this is my guess.

(3) Saromaru is another OC but Kaihou is a canon character.

Und that is the end of this chapter. I hope you like all of the action in this one as it signals the end, or close enough, of the 'One Piece arc'. Give me some ideas for the next world, because I have got nothing on that. One bit of advice though; I won't do one that I have already disclaimed in this fic. Look through the earlier chapters if you need a complete list.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, review and tell me your ideas as well as what you did or did not like.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	29. Chapter 29

Welcome to the world debut of Naruto the Chimera chapter 29

Welcome to the world debut of Naruto the Chimera chapter 29! Enjoy!

AN: For those who were wondering how Zoro pierced Kakuzu's shield, the reason is Zoro's cursed sword. It was strong enough to break the defense.

As for whoever is wondering why I put Law ahead of Kid when it came to power and abilities, the answer is pure favoritism. I mean, he gives Captain

Kid the bird right there in public for god's sake.

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NARUTO MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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Oh and for those who might ask 'well if you don't like the manga Kishimoto makes why do read it?' the answer is simple: In the beginning the series was actually pretty good, it left a few things to be desired, but it wasn't fucking horrible or anything. It was anything but perfect but it was okay. I expected Shippuden to be better and in the beginning, it was. Then the same problems that were present in the first part showed up again i.e. Naruto being a fucking idiot, Sakura being a clueless fangirl, Naruto being weak as hell despite being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki as well as the main character and so on.

I could deal with it in the first part, but come on. It is like Naruto didn't mature at all and Jiraiya barely taught him a damn thing. There are four things in the beginning of Shippuden that he could do that he couldn't do in the first part. 1, he could seal things into scrolls, whoopee-fucking-do. 2, he could call on four tails worth of the Kyuubi's chakra, but he had the same amount of control over it as he did three years before. Little to no improvement there. 3, He could use the Oodama Rasengan which is powerful but slow and inaccurate, overall it is useless. And 4, he had a kunai hidden in his sleeve. THOSE FOUR THINGS are the only differences between Naruto in the first and second parts if you don't count size and outfit. Other than that he has not changed a bit in three years of training. Seriously he couldn't even make the Rasengan with one hand and he STILL can't do it. It is like Jiraiya wanted him to be weak and rely on the Kyuubi, despite the fact that there were nine people out there who were planning to kill him and could prevent him from using the Kyuubi in a fight.

In the second part EVERYONE is stronger than the main character, EVERYONE! In the second part I have not seen Naruto win one battle on his own without using the Kyuubi's chakra, and even then it was with luck. I swear the only person in the second part who Naruto might be able to beat would be the Konohamaru corp. And to be honest I wouldn't be too shocked if Konohamaru kicked Naruto's ass. I really wouldn't. Then there was the whole mess with the Rasenshuriken and Shikamaru beating Hidan, and Sakura beating Sasori which I REALLY thought was bullshit. How could those two, even with help, beat any Akatsuki member? And the Rasenshuriken is useless, what the hell. The author gives him ONE good move and makes it useless. Then there is the whole overpowering issue with Sasuke and the fact that SAKURA is somehow stronger than Naruto, Sasuke killing Deidara which I thought was the biggest load of shit EVER. Sasuke should have died in the first C4 in my opinion, at the very latest. Then there was Pein killing Jiraiya which was his BEST IDEA IN THE SERIES THUS FAR. Seriously it was awesome. Then there is all of this bullshit with Sasuke killing Itachi. At this point the only reason I still read it is so that I can warn others about the most recent fuckups and I have a small hope that it will improve, what can I say? Currently though, the entire thing is going straight to hell, seriously what the fuck was Kishimoto thinking? I'm not sure I really want to know. All in all though, the entire thing is worthy of a review by the AVGN himself, and if you don't know who the AVGN is, all I can say is that you guys have been missing out BIG TIME.

Okay, rant over (I really got carried away on that one, I NEVER expected it to be that long, sorry about that) now on with the chapter.

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Summary of the last chapter

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The Yonkou, Schichibukai and the rest were killed by the Testaments, Straw Hat crew included and Chimera just entered the world. Sorry for the skimpy summary but I am tired at the moment.

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On Raftel

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Chimera stumbled through the portal with a scroll in one hand and clutching his stomach with the other. His robe was covered in blood and he was breathing heavily. The portal sealed up behind him and he fell to the ground, dropping the scroll.

"Chimera-Sama!" Yelled the four surprised and fearful Testaments as they tried to find out what was wrong. They found out soon enough. They moved Chimera's hands out of the way and found that first, his robe was torn open and beneath the tear there was a long slash along his stomach, just below his navel. There were several loops of red and grey flesh hanging through the cut.

Chimera slapped them away and said "Oh shut up, and stop making such a fuss. Honestly you people act like you've never seen someone disemboweled before." Chimera shakily stood up, holding his midsection.

"Chimera-sama, what happened to you?" Asked the frightful Deidara.

He spared his blue-cloaked follower a glance and said "A fucking assassin got to me while I was exhausted. He wouldn't have gotten this sort of wound in even then if he wasn't alone. Dealing with thirty or so higher level demons while exhausted can open up anyone's guard, or so it seems."

Hidan just said "Chimera-Sama, we should get you to a hospital immediately."

He just looked at him and said "Oh for Satan's **sake, grow a pair! This isn't the first time I've had my guts ripped out you know. It isn't much fun but I'll** live." He took a step forward and clutched his stomach again. "Then again, it will be a huge pain in the midsection while the cut is healing."

Chimera slowly sat down on a nearby rock and said "Okay, now while I get my intestines back in my belly, I need you guys to get that scroll I brought through, we'll need it shortly." Chimera tore away his robe and tentatively packed a few inches of intestine back where it belonged and waited while that section of the wound healed itself. This could take a while, it was a delicate process. The Testaments soon found the scroll that Chimera brought with him and brought it back. It looked like a standard issue storage scroll.

Chimera just packed in a few more inches of internal organ when they got back, about half the wound was healed at this point. He took the scroll in one bloody hand and was about to speak when the thought to be dead Monkey D. Luffy came out of nowhere and socked Hidan right in the gut, sending him into the ocean.

"What the hell!" Exclaimed Kakuzu in shock as he and the other Testaments received the same treatment from one of Luffy's enormous fists that he got only by using Gear Third. He was about to go after them, but he was untimely immolated by a long, thick torrent of deep red flame that emanated from Chimera's outstretched left hand. There wasn't anything left but ashes. Apparently it doesn't pay to not pay attention to your surroundings before charging in. Chimera was watching the battle between Hidan and Luffy and as he thought back, he realized how Luffy was still alive. While lying down and somewhat dazed, Hidan had missed a vital point when he used his curse technique. Instead of a vital organ he hit, by a complete fluke, a paralyzing pressure point instead. He chuckled slightly despite the pain it brought when he saw the four Testaments, soaking wet, dragging themselves forward with murder in their eyes.

He just looked at them and asked "Did you have a nice swim? Hidan, you should make sure your opponent is dead before you leave the battlefield, just a tip." Hidan just looked downward, very ashamed that he had broken a Jashin Commandment and committed a very serious sin in his eyes.

Sasori just looked around and asked "Where is he?" Chimera in response just indicated a large section of scorched earth and then returned to rearranging his digestive tract. Deidara got close and yelled out "Man, what is that smell!?" Chimera looked over and said "Brimstone, not exactly fragrant, I know, but Hellfire only comes in one scent, sorry."

Sasori looked at him and asked "Hellfire?"

Chimera looked at him and said "Yeah, it's strong as hell, literally, and doesn't need any handseals to call it up, but you need to be very strong to do so, and even then it really isn't the most stable of energy sources. It is rather nice for when you don't have time for handseals in a fight, but it's almost impossible to control it and it leaves behind its unique smell. Well, unique on this side of mortality. Back home it's a lot more common." Then he packed in a few more loops of gore, sealing the wound behind it.

Kakuzu took the opportunity to ask a question "Chimera-sama, during my fight something odd happened…."

Chimera looked up and said "Your shield got pierced, I know. That Zoro guy's sword is one real mean piece of work, I must say. The curse on that thing was enough to penetrate your defense. Don't worry though, in a few hours it will be as good as new." Sasori asked a question when he was done speaking "Chimera-sama, what's in the scroll?"

Chimera finished up healing his stomach looked up and grinned beneath his mask. This can't be good. Chimera picked up the scroll and said "This **is my absolute masterpiece."** Chimera unrolled the scroll and released its contents. It turned out to be a very small, chrome missile.

He grinned and said "This thing** took twenty thousand years to research, design, plan, and construct. This** is the very first prototype, and under normal circumstances it would still be in lockup, but we are a bit pressed for time here." He looked at the four of them and said "Things are going straight to Hell, no pun intended. The other Archdukes are getting restless and whatever their plans may be, they are nearing fruition. Getting this whole shield thing done as soon as possible is the only way to avoid full out war now.** Hence why I brought this here. It will save us a lot of time in a large world like this. You four are looking at the very first AB missile ever made."**

Hidan asked "AB Missile?"

Chimera nodded and said "It stands for Atmosphere Burner and it does what the name implies. Packed inside that thing is enough Hellfire to turn Hoth from Star Wars into the universes' largest lake in about two seconds. **It will flash fry an entire planet within two minutes of being launched, burning all the oxygen and destroying all life on the world in general. The reason one has never been made before is because packing that much Hellfire into that** small a space and keeping it stable is as close to impossible as you can possibly get. It is the most unstable form of energy there is, anywhere, but it is one of the most powerful, and definitely the most destructive. So get ready to go. I am going to trigger this thing and then we shall get the fuck out of dodge. We have one world left and it could take you a while to destroy that one's shield"

Chimera took out his sword and slashed a portal into existence, standing close to the AB Missile and telling the four to stand near it. He pulled a small remote device from his torn robe and prepared to launch the thing. Then he stood near the Testaments and launched it. As it rose into the sky with an ear-shattering scream, they were already gone, the portal sealed behind them. Good thing it was too, or they would have been caught up in the firestorm that killed everything on that planet. Burning the air, evaporating the sea, and scorching everything else.

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In Hell

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The five of them were in Chimera's lounge sitting in comfortable chairs. Chimera looked at each of them in turn and said "We are very nearly done. One more shielded world remains, which you shall soon deal with, then we shall destroy the world that was made like our own, and then I shall confront my past mistakes and deal with my three rivals. Over two hundred centuries were spent to create that prototype, but to speed up this crucial process it is a small price to pay, besides** I still have the research and blueprints though constructing one takes almost a century."**

Chimera stood and said to them "The final shielded world that you shall be dealing with is a rather tortured one. Until not long ago it was actually split into two worlds known as Sylverant and Tethe'Alla. A few years ago they were joined back into one as they originally were by something known as the 'Eternal Sword'. You will have five targets. The first two are the ones known as the 'Chosen'. These beings are descendents of the Angels of their world and they must be dealt with. The third is the wielder of the Eternal Sword. The fourth is the summoner to the sword's creator, a spirit known as Origin. You must find and destroy this summoner. Finally you must corrupt the thing that binds the two worlds together, the Great Tree that gives this world its life.

The four targets travel together and the Tree is hard to miss. Beware though, that Sword and the Chosen, as well as the Spirits of the Summoner each of them holds great power. Definitely enough power to pose a threat to you. Be wary. Now come with me, and let us close this matter once and for all." Chimera rose and led the way to the Statue room, revealing a portal to the next and final world and preparing to activate the Statue. He just said two words as the shield was cracked and the Testaments sent flying into new territory. "Good luck." And then the four of them fell into a giant desert.

Chimera left the room, being sure to seal it behind him. He then went up to his personal chambers and put on a fresh, blood-free robe that wasn't horribly torn and then went outside. He paid care to the gargoyles on the walls surrounding his home which were his home's first line of defense against any intruder. They were six feet tall when they were crouched over and upon any intruder's detection they would come to life and attack said intruder. That combined with the fact that they had the sort of strength that could crush boulders into powder made them rather effective. He had taken another more recent precaution against enemies in his own home. He had also triggered the gargoyles, which in addition to being on the walls were also present throughout his home, to animate and attack anyone who used any kind of chakra in his home if they weren't previously cleared by him. Basically an assassin would have to outdo Chimera with pure, non chakra-enhanced Taijutsu with Chimera being able to fight to his fullest unless they wanted to fight a few dozen extremely strong stone monsters as well. It was an effective defense. He really didn't want to get attacked by assassins again. Being horribly maimed or disemboweled during battle may not be able to kill him but it didn't change the fact that _it fucking hurt._

Chimera had to work very hard to keep the other three Archdukes in line and prevent outright hostilities between the four factions that had gathered around Hell's top numbers. He had to constantly keep everyone obedient, respectful, and above all else, afraid of him. That combined with the fact that he had to keep from resorting to outright violence himself made this difficult. He picked up and kept high quality souls that he had waiting for him and as things continued he kept an eye on the other three Archdukes. They were the only ones who could have sent those assassins after him earlier. He wasn't sure which one, so he sent assassins to all three of them, each wearing nothing that could trace them to anyone. He had to keep them on their guard and the one who sent the attackers from earlier would know they were from him and to watch his back. It was a very subtle maneuver and he was used to creating them. Staying in control in such a hostile environment required a sharp mind and quick wit. It was not an easy task.

A combination of his subtle manipulations of matters both public and private and the massive revenue from the entire apocalypse ordeal was winning him the uneasy Cold War between the Archdukes. He knew though that despite his best efforts one of the other Archdukes would eventually attack him, he wasn't sure which one. That would spell his victory. When one Archduke attacked him, all he would have to do is kill him in a public place to demonstrate his power. That would be enough to get the remaining two to behave and obey though it would not be publicly acknowledged.

He was winning and his competition knew it. Once the last few worlds were taken care of it would be cut and dried, more or less. This entire affair was nearing endgame and he was in the best possible position to come out on top. They were surprised at how much he was profiting from everything and that surprise would be deadlier in this sort of combat than any blade. He was hardly shocked at their reaction though. It was, after all, almost impossible to bounce back after being nailed with a sucker punch that had preparing itself for over one hundred thousand years. The end of the race was near, the only question was who would attack and be his last obstacle. Would it be Valvoga, Grimlet, or Mephistopheles? Either way he would be sure the results were the same. It was only a matter of time.

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With the Testaments, Triet desert

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With the exception of Sasori, who grew up in one, the Testaments officially HATED deserts. They could deal with the heat easily enough but the endless sand and blazing sun were both irritating. They had located that tree that Chimera mentioned. It was hard to miss being a mile or so high.

When they made it to the only town in the entire place, Triet, they bought a map and found that the Tree was pretty damn far away. They managed to get some information on the group they were hunting too. Apparently after rejoining the two worlds together, they decided to travel together to deal with the powerful monsters that were born from the World Tree's power combined with contamination from the Angelic world of Derris-Kharlan. The mana that the world gave the split world reacted very badly with the pure mana of the World Tree and created some very powerful beasts.

They decided to go after the Tree first. Corrupting that thing would be very obvious and the group that their other four targets were a part of would almost definitely come and investigate. The only problem would be that it was a very long ways away and surrounded by mountains on three sides and had the sea facing the fourth side. It would take a few hours. They decided that there was no point in waiting and so they left for the land in which the World Tree grew, the Holy Land of Kharlan.

They made it to the Tree in 8 hours. You had to give those four credit, they could really move when they wanted to. Since there were no passes through the mountains on any side, they were forced to walk on water and go around. That combined with the large fish monsters that inhabited the area made the going a little rough. Despite all of that however, they were there.

They surrounded the Tree, one Testament to a side and raised their hands into the air. Black smoke formed in their palms and flowed into the Tree and it steadily turned black and its many leaves began to wither. With a tree that damned huge, the process could take a while. They each used the locater jutsu to find their other targets at some point during the process. Sure enough, the group containing the other four power sources for the shield was heading their way. They finally arrived via some strange flying apparatus just in time to see the last few inches of bark blacken and the last few leaves wither and fall to the ground.

There were nine of them in total. The four of them stood together as the one clad in red, which was one of their targets, pulled two swords from their sheaths at his side. One of them was a bright red, the other a deep blue and yelled "Who are you, and what did you do to the World Tree!?" A short boy with white hair pulled out a strange weapon and a taller woman with the same shade of hair pulled out a staff. Perhaps they were related? Regardless a blonde girl who was another of their targets sprouted transparent multicolored wings and pulled out a pair of chakrams while a red headed man who was yet another of their targets pulled out a spear. Another red head who appeared to be the eldest of the group pulled out a heavy broadsword while a small girl with pink hair wielded a surprisingly large axe. To complete the strangeness of it all a man with his hands bound crouched into a fighting stance and their fourth target who appeared to be a ninja of some kind judging by her clothing pulled out a number of paper slips.

They just waited as Sasori spoke "We are here to destroy all you know and all you care about." That was apparently enough to get them to charge at them all at once, the albinos, the blonde, and the ninja staying at a distance.

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And that is the end of chapter twenty nine, I am evil I know. What did you think? I thank the person who said Tales of Symphonia; it was a good idea what with the angels and all. Review and tell me your thoughts and I will see you again in chapter thirty. See you.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	30. Chapter 30

Hey, how's it going

Hey, how's it going? This is the thirtieth chapter of Naruto the Chimera… I think, I may be wrong, we'll soon find out either way won't we?

Witty monologue aside, enjoy the chapter. You can still enjoy the monologue too though, if you want. To each his own.

Latest Sasuke fanboyism by Kishimoto: In chapter 402, well it wasn't much of a chapter but it ended in his trademark Sasuke favoritism way. Two things, one, Sasuke now had his own original Mangekyou Sharingan and it looks sort of like an atomic model. You know that thing with three ellipses surrounding a nucleus? It looks kind of like that. Or maybe a Star of David with another one turned on its side inside of it. Its sort of hard to describe, you have to see it for yourself to know what I mean. Second, Sasuke has renames his personal pride parade 'Hawk' instead of 'Snake' and its purpose is to destroy Konoha because of its supposed manipulation and subjugation of the Uchiha Clan, or at least that's how I read it. Will this guy EVER stop making this bastard more powerful?! Seriously what the hell! What's next, his eyes have the power to kill anyone in the world with little effort just by thinking about them, or maybe it can destroy an entire country with one technique? Though I have to give the guy credit, despite the gayness that probably motivated it, it does look pretty awesome. I still prefer Madara's Eternal Mangekyou though, but it's a close second in terms of looks. Oh and in my rant last chapter I forgot to mention how the Sharingan supposedly is more powerful and evil than the Kyuubi. Yet another load of bullshit fresh from Kishimoto. Will he ever cease to amaze us? Oh and Naruto learned to dispel low to mid level Genjutsu. How useful against a complete master of them like Itachi.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I fucked up a bit in the last chapter. I wrote that Kratos was there at the battle site to be. This conflicts with the fact that he stayed on Derris-Kharlan as it drifted away at the end of the game. Since this story takes place after the main storyline there are a few issues. I will continue on without this mistake, in other words Kratos will not appear again. Normally I wouldn't make this kind of mistake and I am appalled at myself that I did, but what can I say, it's been a few years since I last played Tales of Symphonia. I humbly beg your forgiveness. Thanks go to jusenkyo ruler for pointing out this mistake.

Okay, my screwups aside, on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else I use. Any lawyers hoping to sue me can piss right the fuck off! Seriously, leave. All the rest of you guys can stay though. You guys aren't looking to screw me over. Or are you?

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Summary of the last chapter

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Chimera has destroyed the One Piece world with an awesome missile, but it will take about a century to make another one. He sent the Testaments to the Tales of Symphonia world where they corrupted and destroyed the World Tree, leaving the four remaining targets, Lloyd, Collete, Sheena, and Zelos and the others there to combat them. At the same time Chimera prepared for his eventual conquest of Hell through the Cold War between him and the other three Archdukes. Let the kick ass writing begin.

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At the site of the dead World Tree, the Holy Land of Kharlan

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At the Holy land of Kharlan, the home of the World Tree that provided the world with infinite Mana and before that the home of the Tower of Salvation stood twelve warriors, prepared for epic combat. On one side the descendents of angels, half-elf mages, a summoning ninja, a strange little girl with a gigantic fucking axe, an ex-prisoner who refuses to use his hands and the son of a great warrior who is the wielder of the most powerful sword on the planet, prepared to fight the great evil that threatened all they knew.

The great evil in question took the form of four cloaked figures, one each in red, blue, black, and white. A powerful puppet-master and expert of poisons and the human body, an artist of explosives and destruction, a bounty hunter who has taken the lives of others to extend his own and extend his greed, and an immortal zealot of a dark god wielding a scythe with three blades. Before a great dead tree these two forces clashed.

The boy in red, Lloyd Irving, the wielder of the Eternal Sword who brought two worlds together brought one of the two blades in which the Eternal Sword was shaped down to the ground and with a shout of 'Demon Fang!' sent a great shockwave of cutting energy toward the four.

The red and blue figures jumped out of the way, while the other two stood their ground. An invisible shield deflected the attack from harming the black clad warrior while his white cloaked companion was sliced into by the attack, but he cared not. The horrible lacerations caused by the wound filled in and he stepped in the blood spilt by the attack and with it inscribed a rune upon the ground. A triangle within a circle, the symbol of the dark god whom he worshiped, Jashin. The circle flashed blue when it was completed and the two stood prepared as the more physical of their enemies charged them.

The girl with the axe, Presea, jumped into the air and brought her great weapon down upon them. The one clad in white dodged aside and drew his weapon while his comrade's shield protected him from the strike. The girl jumped back and a man with dark skin and long blue hair with manacles upon his wrists jumped forward sending a bone-shattering kick at the black clad figure. Bone-shattering that kick might have been, but it was not Shield-shattering, the field of protective energy held firm and the figure grabbed the man, Regal's, throat with a grip of iron.

The blonde girl, Collette, the descendent of an angel saw the man's plight and with a cry of 'Angel Feathers' sent circles of rainbow energy toward the terrifying figure that squeezed the life out of their friend. The circles connected with the shield, but for some reason be it holy power or just dumb luck the shield cracked. The man with the spear, Zelos Wilder, the other descendent of angels in their group saw the opportunity his friend provided and attacked with his spear, sending the point into the center of the crack. Charged with the same holy power that the girl wielded against it, the shield cracked severely and then shattered. The sudden force of the shattering shield however drove the spear into the ground, it only took a few seconds to bring the spear to bear again but those few seconds were more than enough. The man in black sent a kick that could rival Regal's into Zelos' stomach, slamming him away while Regal's face turned purple from the strangulation and within a few seconds more that purple turned black and the man went limp. Their enemy dropped him to the ground like so much trash and turned to face the remaining foes.

He stood facing the blonde girl with wings and the man with red hair wielding a spear. He glanced at his comrades and saw Hidan fighting the wielder of the Eternal Sword and the girl with the axe while Deidara faced the brother and sister half-elf mages and Sasori fought the ninja one on one. He turned to his foes and dodged one of the chakrams wielded by the girl.

He drew upon the power of the earth and his skin darkened as it hardened and his body strengthened. He sidestepped the point of the spear as it was thrust towards his midsection, but it caught in his cloak. He quickly undid the clasp and cloak and hood were drawn away. He decided that since these two penetrated the first shield they may be able to pierce his skin as well and he quickly tore away the outer shirt and cloth armor he wore, leaving him in nothing but a skin tight shirt and the pants and boots that came with his uniform as well as the mask and headband that he always wore in the Akatsuki, long ago.

He took in a deep breath and let out cry as he hunched over and the four masks sewn into his back came free and took bodies of their own from the multitude of strings that were beneath his skin. The two he faced were surprised at this, but none of the other enemies noticed, they were too engrossed in their own battles.

The red-haired man raced forward hoping to drive his spear home, but he was intercepted by one of the mask creatures which grabbed the haft of the spear and held it fast. While it did so two things happened. The first was the mask that contained the heart of lightning came close and the second was that Kakuzu himself dashed to the winged girl.

When he reached her he drove a fist towards her face but she was very nimble and managed to move away from the crushing blow. He yelled out "Raiton: Gian!" and the beast that contained his lightning heart crackled with electricity and blasted it at the red haired angelic descendent. He managed to retrieve his spear from the creature that held it and he noticed the fatal blast of lightning that approached him. He knew that it was too close and that he didn't have enough time to move out of the way so he did what he could. He took the spear he took such pride in and stabbed it through the mask of the figure that grabbed his spear. The creature let out a shrill scream and collapsed as the heart inside the mask was pierced and the lightning engulfed Zelos Wilder a bare second later.

Kakuzu turned to his second and final opponent. He was very irritated that he lost his fire heart. That bastard just couldn't die peacefully it seemed. He charged the girl head on, one of the remaining three creatures attacking from the left side while the dead tree blocked the right. The girl threw one of her chakrams at him but he sidestepped the circle of metal, continuing his charge. She prepared to throw her second weapon but he preempted her. He undid the strings that held his forearm to his body and sent his right hand in front of him, catching the girl's wrist. A quick jerk and the delicate bones snapped and she cried out in pain. Her pain distracted her long enough for him to reach her and grab the back of her head with his left hand. A quick turn and a thrust forward and he smashed her head against the hard, unforgiving wood of the deceased World Tree, cracking the skull open and ending her life.

He got his bearings and drew the remaining three masks back inside of him and then went to retrieve his shirt, gloves, mask, and cloak that he discarded in the fight. Then he sat down on one of the tree's larger roots and watched his companions fight, his job was done.

Hidan was fighting Lloyd and Presea. Some of the barely dodged strikes stripped him of his cloak and hood and he had discarded his mask early in the fight for better visibility. He knew that his enemies had some decent moves, so he didn't let up on his attacks long enough for them to get one off. He brought his blade in a downward arc towards Presea's shoulder, but dodged aside at the last second to avoid a strike from Lloyd that would have decapitated him otherwise. He swept his blade sideways hoping to take said boy's head off in one strike but it was blocked by his two swords

He then had to move forward at a diagonal in order to sidestep a downward slash from the girl's axe. That really was kind of over board, it was almost twice as big as she was for God's sake. Nevertheless it was avoided, and Lloyd pushed the scythe away from him and went for a stab into his midsection. He jumped over him, doing a front flip in the air, bringing the scythe towards the back of his head, but he ducked on instinct and the weapon barely missed him.

Hidan landed on his feet and turned around instantly. He immediately ducked under an axe strike that was meant to take his head off, and he got the opening he was looking for. A spike formed in his hand and he drove it towards the girl's midsection. She saw it in time to move out of its way, but it still got her in the hip, drawing blood, and that was all he needed. He immediately drew the spike to his lips and licked some of the blood from the iron and swallowed it. Then he hastily made his way back to the circle avoiding and blocking strikes from Presea all the while.

He finally reached the circle he inscribed with his blood before the battle began and when he did; his lips curled up in a smirk as his skin turned black and white markings appeared on his body. He put his scythe on his shoulder and waited. Within half a second the girl's axe dug into his chest. Another half a second later an identical wound appeared on the girl's chest and with her smaller body the wound went deeper into her chest than it did on him and as a result it cut up her heart and lungs pretty badly. She dropped without a sound.

Seeing his friend fall put Lloyd into frenzy and he ran at him at full speed. Hidan waited for him and prepared. He got into a stance, his right foot forward, left foot back with his scythe in his left hand. With his scythe resting on his left shoulder he stretched his left arm almost straight out behind him, gripping the scythe near the end of the haft and waited for the boy, in his carelessness, to get close. He did just as the albino predicted and he killed him for it. From the position he was in he brought the scythe forward in a vicious upward strike, momentum giving it tremendous force upon impact and it struck him under the ribs, piercing internal organs and eventually coming out through the muscle of his left shoulder. If he kept his cool he could have seen the strike coming and evaded it, but he was angered and died because of it. Hidan withdrew his scythe from the boy's body and went to retrieve his mask and torn hood. He donned them and went to sit near Kakuzu to watch the remaining two battles and intervene if necessary.

While those two fights were happening Deidara were fighting the two half elf mages, Genis and Raine. This was actually an even match given that they were all long range fighters. Deidara kept using C1 explosives since he didn't have the time to create a C2 and a C3 or a C4 would harm his comrades. But he had the advantage when it came to endurance. He had an almost unlimited amount of explosive clay, thanks to the trans-dimensional bags given to him by Chimera, but the two mages he faced had a definite amount of power with which to fuel their spells. As a result he only had to avoid their spells until they wore themselves out.

He would normally finish them off just with the C1, but their spells continued to shoot down his creations every time they got anywhere close to them. A wise move after the first time when he badly burned the younger of the two when they let the bird get too close.

It was still irritating though considering he had to avoid their attacks that could come from them or from below the ground or anywhere else. Especially since some of them had really large areas of effect. As the battle waged on though, he saw an opportunity to get an opening in the form of the turned back of their ninja, Sheena, who was dodging the metal tail of his comrade in red, Sasori.

He created an abnormally powerful C1. It was almost as strong as a C2 and launched it at her. The younger of his two opponents saw what was happening and with a cry of 'Indignation!' brought a large bolt of lighting from the heavens that destroyed the bird before it could reach its target. This required him to shift his focus from Deidara. Big mistake. Deidara was within a few feet of them in a flash and slammed a handful of clay into the boy's chest sending him back several feet. With a quick shout of 'Katsu!' the clay detonated at point black, vaporizing him. It wouldn't normally do that, but that clay was of the kind and quality that Deidara used to create a C3. It was very potent stuff.

Genis' sister, Raine, saw what happened to her little brother and seethed with rage. She made to use her most powerful spell, but the incantation was cut short by a lump of explosive clay being shoved into her mouth, gagging her and cutting the spell off. Deidara kicked her in the abdomen and jumped back, detonating the explosive clay. Blood rained down near Raine's decapitated body. He just watched Sasori' fight after that.

Sheena was in trouble. She knew that she was the last one alive. She never expected them to be THIS outclassed, ever. They weren't this badly overpowered before. Even when they first fought Yggdrasill in the Tower of Salvation after they defeated Remiel, they at least caused him to expend some amount of effort. These four looked like they were just toying with them.

She was facing a hunchbacked man in a red cloak. Normally she wouldn't think that he would pose much of a threat, but the fact that he had a segmented metal tail coated in an extremely deadly poison was quite an asset. He also avoided her every attack with frightening ease.

She knew she only had one chance to win this, but she needed time for it to possibly work.

She used something she never expected to have to use and that she promised herself that she wouldn't unless it was absolutely necessary. She pulled out a red slip of paper and poured her power into it, summoning the last guardian her grandfather gave her for her original assassination mission, the Guardian: Fire. She had hoped to never use this because unlike the other guardians, she could not control this one. It would not harm her, but it would harm everyone else without exception and she could not call it back. Once it was summoned it would attack everything that was not her or itself until it was destroyed. It rushed toward the hunchback as soon as it appeared and she worked on her summoning spell.

The man made quick work of her most powerful guardian, but it provided the time she needed. She intoned "The source of Heaven, Earth, and everything in between. The ruler of all, I summon thee, come Origin!" With that incantation, her greatest summon, the king of all summons, Origin, appeared. Seconds later that metal tail pierced her throat, and she fell to the ground choking on her own blood until she suffocated. Or bled to death, I'm not sure which one came first, but either way she died.

The greatest of the summon spirits, Origin, stood… err, floated before the four Testaments. He held the same form he did when he first met the group whose bodies littered the Holy Ground around them. With the death of his summoner, he could not be dismissed so he had free reign until he wished to leave or he was defeated. But he did not want to leave, he knew what these four intended to do and he hoped that he could still stop them. The blonde figure took up one of his spears in each of his four arms and charged forward towards the one that killed his summoner, the only person he EVER saw fit to form a pact with save Yggdrasill before he went insane.

The other three only watched as the great spirit attacked Sasori with four heavenly spears. He was stuck several times by the tail but the poison upon it did not affect him. Before long he struck home with one of the four lances, causing him to stagger, and he then smashed his opponent.

Strangely though, his opponent did not drop he… crumbled. The ancient summons' questions were answered when a red figure leapt from the ruins of the artificial human looking marionette. This figure was taller and stood upright, but he was still clad in the same red cloak and mask as his puppet. He didn't say a word, he just took a scroll from his belt and opened it, revealing the symbol for 'three'. He wondered what purpose it served until he pushed his energy into it and the roll of paper vanished in an explosion of smoke, revealing another humanoid figure in its place.

This figure's mouth opened and a strange black granular substance erupted from it. He attacked the strange floating construction but the red cloaked figure moved its fingers in a strange pattern and the substance gathered before each of his lances and blocked the attacks. More of the substance flew toward his chest when the red cloaked enemy moved his fingers in another complicated sequence. He moved backwards quickly to avoid being impaled.

Then his enemy moved both hands together quickly and all of the substance came together above him. He shouted "Satetsi Kaihou!" and an enormous latticework of spikes formed. Each of the spikes gave birth to new smaller spikes that split into yet smaller spikes rapidly moving toward him. Not even his maneuverability and swiftness could allow him to avoid the massive attack. His head, chest, and body were perforated by the iron spikes and Origin vanished to whence he came.

Sasori put the Sandaime Kazekage back in the scroll and clipped the scroll to his belt and then went to inspect the remains of Hiruko. A few minutes later he pronounced the puppet damaged beyond possible repair. He gathered the pieces and burned them with a Katon jutsu so that in the unlikely event anyone found the puppet they could not steal his designs. Then he went to join the other three in waiting for Chimera.

They didn't need to wait long. He appeared as he normally did, in a cut between dimensions. He just looked at them and said "Come on." Then he walked back towards the portal.

Hidan yelled out "Wait Chimera-sama, don't we have to destroy this world's human population?"

Chimera looked at him and said "There's no need. That tree you killed provided the land itself with energy. Without it this land will wither and die in a matter of years. Plants will die, animals will fall, water will cease to flow, etcetera. We don't need to do anything more here; we can just let them starve to death. Now come on **it is about time we dealt with that supposed god and the world he created in the likeness of ours."** He stepped into the portal without another word, and his Testaments followed behind him.

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And that is the end of chapter thirty. Comment, review by all means. Tell me what you think of it and any possible tips. I have nothing more to say other than you will see someone VERY unexpected in the next chapter. I can guarantee no one will guess who it is, but feel free to try.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	31. Chapter 31

Greetings one and all to the thirty first chapter of Naruto the Chimera

Greetings one and all to the thirty first chapter of Naruto the Chimera. I have nothing else to say so let's skip this and get right into the chapter. Chimera versus Naruto at last!

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Summary of the last chapter

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The world of Symphonia was dealt with. Now the Testaments and their master have set their sights upon the world that is almost a mirror image of their own.

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In Hell, Chimera's estate

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Chimera and the Testaments arrived in the statue room. Chimera looked at them and said "I have to thank you for what you have done. You have almost guaranteed my victory against my fellow Archdukes."

Kakuzu just said "There's no thanks necessary, simply pay me the money you promised me and we'll be square." Hidan looked at Chimera and said "Yes and you promised to introduce me to Jashin-sama himself. It's time you did as you promised long ago."

Chimera nodded and said "Yes of course, but there is one thing you four must know. Come closer." The four Testaments stepped forward and Chimera leaned in close as if to divulge a great secret and whispered to the four of them "You four are gullible fools."

At that moment six hands erupted from Chimera's sleeves and plunged into the chests of the four servants. Two went into the chests of Hidan and Kakuzu. They all went white with shock.

Chimera chuckled under his breath and said "**You four no longer serve any purpose so I am taking back what I gave you for the job plus interest**."

Deidara gurgled from the blood seeping into his lungs and managed to ask "Why? We would have served you."

Chimera looked at him and said "I can not trust servants unless they are forever bound without restriction such as the women here are, ever looked closely at their necks? If you did you would have seen the small seals surrounding it like a collar, exactly like a collar. As for the promises I gave, well you should know by now, **if you want a devil such as myself to honor my word, you should have gotten it writing!"** And with that the six hands each ripped a black sphere from the four Testaments, two each from Hidan and Kakuzu. The bodies quickly vanished as though they were never there.

Chimera left the Statue room and went into another hidden room on the fourth floor of his palace. This was his personal soul vault where he kept all of his most valuable souls. The souls of the Akasuki were there as were any souls he possessed that were of high value. The room was protected by several powerful genjutsu and blood seals. That combined with powerful gargoyle guardians and a heavy titanium door made it damn near impossible to crack.

Inside the vault was a multitude of clear rectangular glass cases lined on either side like a hallway leading from the vault door to the wall. Each of these held a human form. Each of them pressed and pounded against the glass, hoping to escape. He passed the cages of Pein and Madara on the way by actually. The only member of the Akatsuki who wasn't in the vault was Konan. She was currently in a small red silk dress like the rest of the house staff. Many others were there whose souls were considered valuable. Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin were in there for example. Sarutobi Sasuke and Uchiha Sasuke were there as well. The only one who was not there was Hatake Kakashi. He was in another, MUCH more horrible prison that was experienced by him and one other.

While most of the glass cages were outlined with black iron, a few dozen near the wall were outlined with gold. These contained Saints and other Pure Souls he had managed to obtain over the millennia. And at the very head of the vault against the wall all on its own directly across from the door was a blindingly bright white light. If you looked carefully you could see a cage like the others, though it was much larger, and if you looked carefully enough you could make out a large, winged figure. The only un-Fallen angel in Hell whom Chimera trapped and imprisoned with whispered lies, subtle temptation, and false affection. Weaving his tapestry of darkness and trapped the most valuable thing a devil could have that marked one as an undisputed master of deceit. Angel Souls were utterly priceless, irresistible and at the same time valuable and deadly to any devil or demon that had one.

Angels were after all, a devil's natural and most deadly enemy. Most had never even seen one, and of those that had, all had tried to steal them from their owners at the time and the Angel eventually got free during the in-fighting. Devils tempted Man and Angels tempted Devils like a moth to a deadly holy flame that burned any that got too close. But even Angels could be fooled by a supposedly innocent mortal child like he pretended to be at the time.

Chimera spent a moment gazing upon that winged figure and then turned aside and placed the six souls into six empty boxes. Each of the souls turned into humans when the doors closed. In the first four stood Sasori, Deidara, Hidan, and Kakuzu. In the last two stood an albino with purple eyes and white clothing, while in the second stood a man in the uniform of the Black Testament with dark grey skin and red eyes. Albedo Piazzolla and Erich Weber, also known as Voyager. When they lived they were the original White and Black Testaments. Chimera looked into two golden boxes and saw the original Red and Blue Testaments, Kevin Winnicot and Luis Virgil. Poor bastards.

Chimera turned and left the vault, smiling at the four he had betrayed because they had served the purpose he had set for them and gazed at the trapped Angel once more before he left, the door sealing behind him. He wanted this world to fall to him and him alone; he didn't want any help and had no need for it from here on.

He walked into his living room, where he intended to make his departure. He didn't need to use the King of Hell Statue since the world had no shield. As far as anyone was concerned this world was free game. Of course there is the danger that another demon would attack him in that world since anyone could go, but the only ones he would have to worry about were his fellow Archdukes and it was too early for them to make a move. He had plenty of time before his enemies would strike and fall into his trap.

He drew his sword from its seal on his arm and sliced into the fabric of reality to open a way into the world in question. Before he could go however, one of the 'staff', Temari to be specific, actually took initiative and asked a question. "C-chimera-Sama, isn't the world you are planning to attack protected by a god?"

He looked at her, quite surprised. The seals on their necks were meant to guarantee loyalty and suppress free will. This was the first time he had heard any of them talk of their own initiative since the week the seals were placed.

Still, he figured that he might as well answer her. There was no harm in it. "Yes, the world is protected by a god. A weak and stupid god, but a god nonetheless. It doesn't matter though. Events are in place to take him out of the equation. Permanently. Now get back to work." She let out a quick "Yes, Chimera-Sama" and hurried back to where she was before.

He looked through the portal to see where he was going to end up. He had been looking at the world's timeline and chose a specific time and place to make his entry. He couldn't do this with any of the shielded worlds because the shields prevented it, but he could make sure he came out right where and when he wanted to here. After a minute or two, he got close to his spot and fine tuned it, skipping through events slowly.

After this Sasuke had somehow beaten Itachi, he had been dragged off by Uchiha Madara and told the reason why Itachi killed the Uchiha clan in that world. He found it completely absurd. Itachi kill his family just because the village asked him to? It was pure insanity. The Itachi he knew had killed them because he couldn't stand being controlled by his clan and he left the village for the same reason.

Regardless, that was how it happened in this world. He watched on and Sasuke got his own Mangekyou Sharingan. He just shook his head and mumbled something about idiot yaoi fanboy creators and continued through the timeline. He saw the original attacks by his group of four upon genin and chuunin in Hi no Kuni, and his eventual infiltration of the village. He watched as he killed Tsunade in her sleep, drunk under the table. 'Once again his cowardice shows. Then again I probably would have done the same thing, but that would be because the fight would be a waste of time, not cowardice.'

He watched the next few developments in complete awe._ Somehow_ that idiotic borderline retarded copy of him managed to defeat Pein and Madara and destroy the King of Hell Statue, killing all of the Bijuu except for his own! That bastard Kakashi had defeated Zetsu and Kisame and that dumb bimbo Sakura somehow defeated Konan. He had no idea how it happened. IT MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! How on earth a group of their pathetic caliber defeated such strong opponents, he had no idea. Then again that world's creator was on their side in his infinite anti-wisdom. Then he heard what completely floored him. _That dumb bastard copy of him and that pink haired slut STILL believed that they could bring the Uchiha prick back to Konoha and make him loyal again! And the village AGREED with them!_

He just shook his head. He had seen some STUPID shit in his 200,000 or so years, but this took the cake, the silver platter it was on, and the table underneath it. He just skipped by after seeing Homura becoming Rokudaime Hokage and basically become Danzou's puppet. Those old douche bags had no spine.

He managed to find the position he was looking for after a small time. It was a large clearing a few miles wide in a forest in north Hi no Kuni. The retrieval group led by Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai had caught up with Sasuke's 'Hawk' group. Along with the two were Rock Lee, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimich Choji, Sai, Haruno Sakura, and his retarded alter-ego Uzumaki Naruto. They were squaring off against each other and he decided that now was the best possible time to make a dramatic as hell entrance. So he had a slight thing for making a good entrance, sue him. He thought 'My only trust worthy ally should be taking that god down right about now.' As he stepped into the dimensional rift.

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In the Unholy Den of Horrible Fanboy Writing

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The god of Yaoi writing, Misashimoto, was currently watching over his creation on what looked like about a billion invisible cameras. He just giggled to himself as he thought of how screwed up he could make his creation. He laughed out loud at the thought of the idea he had about removing the Kyuubi from the kid's stomach and putting it inside Sasuke, like he planned. Anything to give his greatest fuckup EVER more power. He cackled "Soon, I shall fuck up the WORLD!"

He heard a voice yell out behind him "HELL NO, I am putting a stop to this madness here and now!" He turned around and tried to place the voice, definitely and English accent, but he couldn't recognize the voice. He stared as a cloaked figure appeared from nowhere. He yelled out "Who are you?"

The figure raised its hand and I lowered my hood, revealing shaggy brown hair and rectangular glasses. I said "I am Artful Lounger, and I am here to cleanse your fanboy soul!" **(1)**

The god laughed and yelled "I am a GOD of yaoi! You can not hope to defeat Me.!"

I just yelled back "THE HELL I CAN'T!" I pulled a golden Kalashnikov from under my cloak and yelled "BEHOLD THE GOLDEN KALASHNIKOV OF GOOD WRITING, LOADED WITH THE SILVER BULLETS OF EXCELLENT PLOT! IN THE NAME OF THE GODS OF FANFICTION, ANIME, AND MANGA AND DISAPPOINTED NARUTO FANS EVERYWHERE, I PURGE THE DARKNESS FROM YOUR SOUL! MAY YOU FIND PEACE IN THE AFTERLIFE!" I proceeded to unload the entire clip into the bastard from five feet away, he dropped soon afterward. I reloaded and unloaded another clip into his chest and a third clip into his head.

I stared into the distance and yelled "Remember, yaoi possessed bastards take at least three clips of silver bullets to make sure their dead." I saluted an invisible camera and yelled "Enjoy the rest of the story everybody!" and vanished back to whence I came. **(2)**

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Field of conflict

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On one side of the clearing stood all four members of Hawk, ready for a fight. On the other side of the clearing stood the remains of the rookie 9, and team Gai. His copy made a cheesy speech about how it wasn't too late for him to come back to Konoha that he could be respected again, and in response Sasuke yelled out some emo speech about how Konoha killed his clan and that he had to have vengeance and all that crap we've heard about a million times. It was at that moment that Chimera appeared out of a rift in time and space between the two parties, stepping out of it like it was an elevator and that it was completely normal. Every pair of eyes was wide and staring at him. He just looked at one side, then the other and said "Why are you all staring at me?" Cue mass face fault.

As they were busy being stupid, he took the time foolishly given to him and sent out six blades of wind chakra in rapid succession and nailed his target dead on each time. The ones hit were Karin, Suigetsu, Juugo, Shikamaru, Rock Lee, and Gai. Six irritations out while they were being stupid, a nice start as far as he was concerned. They were up again in a flash after seeing six people get killed by the mysterious stranger. Chimera looked at them all and said "Did I forget to mention that I am here to kill you all?"

He never thought he would see something this idiotic but this world's copy of him did so. He actually yelled out "Hey, that's not fair, we didn't know you were an enemy!" Chimera just shook his head, put his hand on his forehead and sighed. HOW could anyone be this stupid?

In the corner of his eye he saw the Yamanaka making handseals for a Shintenshin no jutsu. He was on her in a flash and cut her throat with a newly formed kunai, dodging out of the way of Choji's massive fist that came down on him the second the deed was done. He vanished and reappeared at a nearby spot, creating a triangle out of him, Sasuke, and the Konoha team. Said team was just getting its bearings and prepared to fight him. It was about damn time. Now that everyone had gotten serious he wanted the driftwood out of the way. He created a large number of Kage Bunshins and sent them toward the Konoha team. No one was ready for the sudden assault and they were all picked up and carried off elsewhere. The only ones left to face him were his copy, Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke. Just the way he wanted it.

He took down his hood and took off his mask and looked at each or them with both demonic red eye and piercing blue eye. Surprisingly it was the idiot that noticed it "H-hey, he looks a lot like me!" The others took a look and realized that the dobe was right! Take away the whisker marks, make the face a bit longer and no where near as wide, remove any skin tone and add a demonic eye and you had this guy!

Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan and yelled at Chimera "Who are you?"

Chimera met Kakashi's gaze unflinchingly and said "I am what one of your number could have been, but you may call me Chimera, mortal."

They all took pause at that. What one of your number could have been? What was that supposed to mean? Naruto simply asked him "Hey, what's that supposed to mean, dattebayo?"

Chimera just chuckled and said "By the end of the day, you will know." He looked over to where the clones managed to move the rest of the group. There were a large number of Doryuuheki jutsus being performed at once. That was the plan after all. While some of the clones combated the group, the rest would surround the area in a ring of Doryuuhekis, which was the first step.

The second step just started. While the second group raised the walls of earth, the first group dived underground in order to prevent subterranean escape. They were rats in a trap at this point. Chimera pointed out the ring of earth to them and just said "Look, and listen." The three foolishly turned around, but Kakashi kept staring at him. Wise move.

He watched as he ordered the clones to perform the Gokakyuu no jutsu upon the inner side of the ring of earth and rock, melting it into lava that slowly poured down the sides toward the group and preventing them from scaling the walls with chakra. A clone was keeping an eye on Sai and his ink creations as well to prevent his escape.

Then came the coup de grace. With the targets in the ring and stuck at ground level, each of the clones on the walls did a number of handseals and yelled out, in unison "Suiton: Daiame no jutsu" (Water release, great rain technique) As they watched, clouds coalesced into the air above the ring of earth and rain came pouring down, striking the lava. From the cooling lava came boiling steam that swept down into the ring at a frightening pace. Unable to go up or down, they were trapped in that ring and were effectively boiled to death like lobsters. The dysfunctional team 7 heard their screams all the way from there.

Chimera just smirked and said "I cannot help but love that sound. Now then, shall we begin?"

The three turned back to him, and assumed their combat stances alongside Kakashi, the once broken Team 7 reforming temporarily out of necessity for survival.

Of course Sasuke and Naruto still didn't know shit about teamwork so neither of them cared much as Sasuke used a Gokakyuu no jutsu that was dodged, only to see Naruto come rushing at him with a Rasengan in hand, a clone vanishing behind him.

Chimera couldn't help but smile as he reached forward with his left hand and made a flowing gesture with his hand and fingers.

Naruto had no idea what the guy did. He reached out with his left hand and made some weird motion and he drew the chakra from the Rasengan into it. The spinning ball suddenly vanished from his hand. The strange man raised his left hand to his mouth. He ate it, he _ate_ his chakra!

He just stared and said "That is incredibly unfair."

Chimera looked at the boy in amusement and just said "Life is not fair, haven't you learned that by now?" Then he darted forward and punched the blonde in the stomach, sending him backward into a tree.

He dodged a surprise attack from Sasuke's Kusanagi and reached out and gripped the wrist that held the sword. The appendage broke with a quick, ugly snap and Sasuke yelled out in pain. He dropped him where he was and turned to the downed blonde and said "Is this truly what you are capable of? Come now boy, at least try to fight me. Call upon Kyuubi; he would make this fight interesting at least."

The blonde in question just shook his head and said "No, I won't call on his power; I don't need it to beat you."

Chimera could not help but smirk at his self-righteous lunacy. Was he truly that deluded as to not use his power to its fullest?

Chimera sensed and dodged a Raikiri from Kakashi, he must have been tired from chasing Sasuke to be that slow. He grabbed the silver haired ninja by the left forearm and the waist. And then he looked at the blonde and said "Really, so it won't matter if I do this then?" With that he tensed for a second and ripped off Kakashi's arm at the shoulder in one savage jerk, blood flying onto the downed Uchiha, the stunned blonde, and the fangirl who was white and paralyzed with shock. He couldn't believe how easy this was! Sure his expectations weren't that high, but come on!

Kakashi screamed in pain and Sakura managed to get over her fear and move again. She rushed right at him prepared to smash him into the ground. It could have worked if he didn't strike her fist at the right moment and disrupt her chakra flow by introducing his own chakra into her coils. Her attack landed but it was weaker than that of a civilian.

While he was distracted by Sakura, Sasuke got up and turned toward him, Mangakyou Sharingan blazing. Chimera just did the easiest possible thing… he poked him in the eye. As a result, Sasuke immediately closed them both and Chimera knocked him out with a chop to the neck. He looked over at his copy who was channeling two tails worth of red chakra by now, the only problem was that he was trying to bring it back in and get himself under control. He suddenly thought of a great way to help him bring out more of the red chakra instead of fighting it. He grabbed Sakura by the back of her neck and held her against his chest, facing Naruto. Chimera also had his other hand at Sakura's throat.

He was about to make a threatening demand, but it was cut short by Sakura who punched him near the hip, tearing away a large chunk of flesh. He let go of her in his moment of shock and stared at her for a second. She was standing about twenty feet away, the lump of flesh torn from him by her feet.

While his stupid side was trying to keep the three tails of chakra he was now channeling under control, unsuccessfully. Chimera felt around the edges of what used to be a large chunk of his midsection. After a moment he looked at Sakura and said "God damn it, you got one of my kidneys, you bitch! Sakura took on an expression of arrogant mockery, but it didn't last long as long, thick tendrils sprouted from the lump of what was formerly a section of Chimera's abdomen and wrapped around her.

Chimera walked over to her and said "And that would be my kidney fighting back. Just how pathetic is it when an internal organ of your opponent on its own is enough to kick your ass? Seriously, that's pretty **high up there in my opinion. Regardless, its time for you to make yourself useful. But first, to **help that gigantic moron along…."

He created a Kage Bunshin and sent it running over towards Naruto who had finally managed to get the demonic chakra under control. Then the clone made a quick, yet long, chain of handseals and ran its hand into his stomach yelling "Hakke no Fuin Shiki, KAI!" and releasing the only thing that let Naruto control the chakra that he gained from his demon. It wasn't immediate, the results that is, but now he could not suppress it. All he required was anger and the Kyuubi's chakra would flow like a river.

Chimera whistled and got his attention. Then he said to the bewildered blonde "Why will you not call upon your greatest asset? Is it for fear of hurting others unintentionally? Or maybe it is because you know that it will harm you. Or maybe you DO want to use it, but you are unable to do it. If that IS the case however, I will be more than happy to help you."

Chimera put his left hand to Sakura's throat and said in a demonic voice "**Call upon the fox's power now, or you will watch as I reduce this insect to nothing more than red chunks of meat upon the ground!" **The moment he completed his sentence, the fingers of Chimera's left hand shifted into very long and very sharp claws that just brushed the pink haired Haruno's collarbone.

Seeing the one he, against any better judgment, cared about, Naruto went into an internal rage. If there was one thing he could not stand it was someone using a hostage against him. As a result the Kyuubi's power went soaring through his coils, charging him to four tails in record time.

Then something odd happened. A fifth tail appeared, then a sixth and a seventh. An eighth tail sprouted from the red power, increasing the size of the crater it was causing all the while. After a moment of pointless struggle from the host, the ninth and final tail of Kyuubi's chakra formed and his body began to disintegrate. Normally if Naruto died he would drag the Kyuubi to Hell with him. With that much of Kyuubi's chakra being channeled into him however, plus the fact that the seal was recently weakened severely, it meant that Kyuubi had a moment, just an instant to attempt an escape. And the old demon took that chance without a second thought.

As Naruto's body disintegrated and he died painfully, a red furred form sprouted from his navel and traveled into the air, growing larger all the while. By the time Naruto was dead, the Kyuubi stood four to five hundred feet above the spot where the body was located and bellowed for the entire world to hear "I AM FREEEEE!"

Far below, Chimera smiled and ripped Sakura's throat out, happy to be able to do what he had wanted to for a long time. Chimera removed his robe, revealing the sculpted, yet thing body beneath and while wearing nothing but a tough pair of pants and some ninja sandals muttered under his breath "Now, for what I REALLY came here for."

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(1) Okay, seriously, who saw this one coming?

(2) I am sorry about this whole section here, I really am, but I couldn't resist. If anyone was going to deal with that bastard it was going to be me in person. Don't worry though this is the FIRST and definitely LAST time I ever do anything like that so don't let it ruin the story for you, form here on out I shall remain behind this computer where I belong. So don't flame me about it, okay?

And that is the chapter, sorry for the cliff-hanger. Comments, anyone? Reviews, even? I hope so; I like to read people's opinions. I will get the next chapter up ASAP, but it could be awhile since exams are on and I am leaving town in the near future. Regardless to that however, I shall do my best!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	32. Chapter 32

Greetings one and all to the thirty second chapter of Naruto the Chimera

Greetings one and all to the thirty second chapter of Naruto the Chimera! There is little more to say except that Kishimoto is actually giving Naruto some amount of character development now by making Itachi make him think about what he would do should Sasuke attack Konoha. That was pretty much the only thing that was told in chapter 403.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else

Note: SCHOOL IS OUT! HUZZZAAAAAAAAAAAH!

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Summary of last chapter

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The Testaments destroyed the last world they could and they were betrayed as soon as they got back into Hell, their powers taken back from them and their souls stolen and put into cages. After that Chimera jumped into a fight between 'Hawk' and a bunch of Konoha shinobi, killing them all except for Sasuke who is currently out cold and Kakashi, who he just let bleed to death. This of course caused our favorite (arguably) retarded and whiskered blonde to use the Kyuubi's chakra and channeling nine tails of it combined with Chimera weakening the seal caused Kyuubi to go free. Now then, let the epic-ness continue.

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Random clearing where the battle up till now took place

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Konohagakure's worst nightmare had finally come true; the Kyuubi has been freed from its seal to wreak havoc upon the world once more. It stood four hundred feet tall and 700 feet long, tails included. Its red fur shone in the sunlight and its claws and fangs gleamed maliciously. Before the legendary demon stood only one thing, Archduke Chimera, one of the four rulers of Hell and therefore one of them most powerful demons in all of existence. He was staring at its left forepaw for some reason. Kyuubi, slightly curious picked up its paw and looked at the bottom. Eww, he stepped on the Uchiha. After hastily wiping it off on a nearby tree he turned his attention back upon the demon before him.

Chimera looked up at the enormous fox and said "Don't you have a smaller form? Honestly, by taking such a large shape you just look like your compensating for something."

The Kyuubi was furious, but instead of arguing the point, he just transformed into a human shape. If things turned violent he wouldn't have a chance in Hell in that enormous fox body, his smaller opponent would be too fast to avoid and too small to hit from that perspective.

Kyuubi's human form was actually pretty normal looking. He had shoulder length red hair and a muscular form. His facial features were rough and rugged and the eyes were crimson with slit pupils. The ears were slightly pointed and his hands and feet were clawed. He was garbed in normal ninja attire, slightly baggy black pants made from durable material, a form fitting black shirt that left nothing to the imagination, a black flak jacket, and two pouches filled with kunai and shuriken. His hands and feet were left bare and he also had nine red furred tails. He looked at the burned face of the demon before him who had discarded is torn and bloody robe, leaving him only in shinobi sandals and the normal pants of extremely durable, yet comfortable material and asked him "What are you doing here, Chimera?"

Chimera looked at the fearsome demon in human form before him and said "You know of my relationship with the original Kyuubi, I take it?"

Kyuubi just nodded and said "Yes, he gave you the building blocks, the foundation upon which you have obtained your powers and you stabbed him in the back at the first opportunity the moment he was no longer useful to you. You sealed him in an urn and sold him in order to further your plans for the domination of Hell. He is kept within the statue and with that bracelet you control all nine of the original Bijuu within it. I am actually surprised you did not devour him and the other Bijuu after your goals were accomplished. Why is that?"

Chimera shrugged and said "I am actually surprised you know that much, the temporal relationships between the various worlds sure are amazing things; nearly impossible to comprehend for most mortals. You want to know why I do not devour them? Well that is simple enough. Two reasons, one, **I do not want to allow those bloodthirsty insects to share in my glory as parts of myself when I reign supreme. The second reason is, well I am not entirely sure I could contain that much power. Even in my current form, my** power is constantly leaking away like a slug oozes slime, who knows what would happen if I eat something THAT large at this point. Regardless, that does not affect my purpose for coming here."

Kyuubi perked his ears up at that, so to speak "And what purpose is that?"

Chimera looked at the ancient demon, though he was young by his standards, and said with a slight gleam in his demonic right eye "To settle a score." Chimera rushed forward, fast and punched Kyuubi right in the solar plexus, driving him backward by at least thirty feet.

Chimera walked forward, talking as he did "I despise the Kyuubi I knew. He caused my original misery**. Yes through that I became as powerful as I am now, but I still hate him for my years of torment He also tried to make me do his bidding and I do not take orders from anyone. However, the Kyuubi I knew is locked within the Statue and I do not know how to get him out with his free **will so I can not destroy him in combat. You are his mirror image, his copy, and you have his memories so you will have to do."

The Kyuubi vanished and appeared in front of Chimera, punching him full on in the face and knocking him backward a few yards. He grinned and said "So that is why you came here. You think you can beat me, especially in that pathetic human disguise you always wear?"

Chimera stood and looked at him "So, you noticed that this was not my real form?" Kyuubi grinned and said "Of course I did, I am the most powerful or the Bijuu and I know what you are capable of. You can take any form you want to, but you have a real form that shows what you really are. You just prefer that human appearance for some reason."

Chimera just chuckled a bit and looked at him "Amazing, you are actually the first to realize that I just prefer this form and that it is not what I really look like. To be honest I just take this form to avoid breaking things in my home, but when it comes to combat it IS much more suitable. I have no objection to revealing it now since you ARE right. I could not hope to defeat you as I am now. Just do your best to try and make this last, it is the first time I have had to revert to this form in order to win a fight since I killed and devoured Zetta fifty thousand years ago and took his place as an Archduke." Chimera looked at the Kyuubi and revealed his true self to the world for the first time in 50,000 years.

His size increased until he was about nine feet tall and he was very broad, about three feet from shoulder to shoulder. A giant by anyone's standards. His skin turned darkest obsidian and large, leathery bat-like wings sprouted from his back. His arms were very long, easily reaching his knees and were covered in chiseled muscle, ending in six inch long claws at the end of each finger and armored plates grew in upon his shoulders, forearms, elbows and knees and one inch long spikes with very sharp tips formed upon the knuckles. An armored tail sprouted from his tailbone, and two long horns grew in on his forehead, curving slightly upwards as they progressed upon their 18 inch length and his hair was freed from its confinement, flowing down his back in a rough mane, the strands turning a dark grey. Finally fangs replaced his normal teeth, protruding slightly past his lips and his blue eye matched its other demonic counterpart in its blood red color, no pupil or iris to be seen and a third eye opened between the two horns, the only difference was that the third eye had the thick lines and circles of Uchiha Madara's eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Kyuubi was surprised; he never expected it to be that intimidating. It wasn't much compared to his fox form, but the level of power radiating off of him, turning the normally warm air into a dank, unearthly cold made up the difference. He was the most shocked though to see Madara's Mangekyou upon him though and he simply asked in a shaky voice "H-how did you get HIS eye?"

The demonic form of Chimera smirked and said **"It is thanks in part to the uniqueness of this world. Every soul here is a duplicate of the ones where I was born. Whenever someone here dies, their souls are drawn to and absorbed by the souls of their counterpart. For the most part I simply let this happen, but I did not with Madara's. I took the copy's soul and devoured it; I could not pass up this chance. I could have taken the eye of the Madara I have in my possession yes, but then I couldn't see the fear in his eye whenever he saw me. It's the little things that make the difference. Regardless, it is time for this score to be settled Kyuubi."**

Kyuubi did what anyone or anything would do when a nine foot tall monster rushes toward you at amazing speeds… got the hell out of dodge. He was a good three to four yards away so he had some small amount of time to dodge away from the strike which could have badly injured him if he were hit by it. What he didn't anticipate was the whip-like tail smashing into the side of his skull as Chimera rushed past him. He was a LOT stronger in that form and as a result, Kyuubi smashed through three or four trees just outside the clearing before smashing into a rock to stop his momentum. Keep in mind that the clearing in question was several hundred feet in diameter and they were in the center at the time.

Kyuubi got up quickly and it was a good thing he did otherwise the slicing blade of wind that sliced through the rock and the two trees behind it would have cut him in half. He knew enough about Chimera from the memories of the other Kyuubi to know that elemental techniques were worthless, he had all elemental affinities and he would just beat him with a jutsu of the superior element to whichever one he used. Genjustu was out thanks to that Sharingan running him through with its gaze, not to mention the demonic eyes that broke through most genjutsu anyway. Taijutsu would be tough to pull off since he was that large, he had to think of something to give him a fighting chance at victory. He moved out of the way at lightning speed to avoid a large gout of Hellfire that devoured the trees behind him. The smell of sulfur and brimstone assaulted his sensitive nose, slightly disorienting him, but he still managed to move out of the way of the Fuuton: Daitoppa he used to try and blast him into the flames.

Kyuubi rushed forward, dodging blades of wind and gouts of Hellfire, taking out a very sharp and abnormally long kunai he jumped into the air and tried to slice off the right arm of the beast before him. This would have worked normally but the blade only made a slight indentation upon the skin before the blade cracked and a clenched fist crashed into his ribcage, spikes gouging four identical holes in his side as he was blown away. The small cut he made had already healed by the time he got up, as did the holes in his torso. He tried to figure out what had happened as he dodged several blades of wind, then he came up with an idea and quick as lightning hurled another of those long kunai at him, striking him in an unarmored section of his arm. The long knife bounced off of the obsidian skin. It was as he thought, his skin was hard as steel, and the armored sections were probably even more effectively protected.

He was at a severe disadvantage in this fight and they both knew it. Kyuubi did his best to dodge of the blades of wind and blasts of hellish flame. He wondered why he was using such repetitive attacks. He thought and soon came to a conclusion that was VERY bad for him. It was the Hellfire; its high sulfur content was assaulting his senses and slowly disorienting him and the wind blades were helping the flames spread. He was planning on using that to disable him and then he would finish him off. Knowing that, he came up with a counterstrategy. The first thing he did was tear off a section of his shirt and then rip that piece in two. He used these pieces of block his nostrils. Dangerous given the climate since he would have to breathe with just his mouth, but if he used his nose he would just end up dead. The second thing he did was wait until he moved his arm in the slashing motion that brought forth one of his blades of wind and then he rapidly made handseals yelling "Katon: Daiendan!" as he let loose a large burst of flame from his mouth toward the blade of wind and bulling through it and impacting upon the form of the one who created it.

Kyuubi didn't let his guard down for an instant, he knew that wouldn't finish him off, this battle had just begun. At this moment, Kyuubi made a mistake that most Gennin make. He considered all directions of attack, in front, behind, left, right, and above, but he forgot one, below. A steel manacle popped out of the ground and fastened itself upon his ankle. Seconds later a large, purple sphere with two golden eyes popped out of the ground with a chain attached to the manacle and detonated in a fantastic explosion.

Chimera rose from the ground and said "Doton: Mad bomb no jutsu." Without another word he created a group of twenty of his Tracer Eyes and sent them to where Kyuubi landed after the explosion. He waited about ten seconds for them to explode and then set out after them. When he got to the impact crater, there was a lot of scorched earth and burning plant-life, but no body. A moment or two of exploration revealed a decent sized hole in the ground. Chimera grinned and thought 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu, classic.' Then he put his hand above the hole and poured Hellfire into it.

About ten yards outside the crater flames rushed from the ground. Chimera saw that and looked around a bit, looking for his opponent. He took to the air in hopes of getting a better view of the area.

Kyuubi was in bad shape. Not only was he blown away by that bomb, but he was badly hurt from all those smaller ones that came after him immediately afterward. He was hiding in a particularly dense patch of woodland while he healed and he saw Chimera in the sky, looking for him. He decided that his wounds were healed enough and he put his hand to the ground. A few moments later a gigantic hand of blazing red chakra burst from the ground and seized the airborne demonic Chimera around the waist, burning his flesh.

Chimera looked at the hand and then traced it back to its source and when he had it pinpointed he pointed his hand at where he was and built up chakra in his hand, releasing it in one single blast which decimated the nearby earth. The hand that held him dissipated soon afterward and he landed on the ground, keeping watch for Kyuubi while his wounds healed. While he did he fed tendrils of his chakra into the air, spreading them out in a web in hopes of finding him. He knew that Kyuubi would realize what he was doing and destroy the threads of chakra as soon as he felt them to avoid detection, and that would signal his presence.

His web had reached half a mile in diameter when several of the threads suddenly disappeared, perfect. His wounds had healed by then so he rushed forward toward the area where the threads had vanished to see Kyuubi nursing a bad burn upon his left arm, remnants from Chimera's most recent attack. He came out of nowhere as far as Kyuubi was concerned and punched him right in the face, smirking as his nose crunched upon impact as the fox in human form went flying away.

Chimera rushed forward, hoping to end the fight when he came upon another clearing with a most unwelcome sight in it. There was Kyuubi, and he had one hand outstretched in front of him, pointing straight at Chimera. In that hand was a small dark purple ball of highly condensed chakra and all nine of his tails were surrounding that sphere to keep the energy contained just before it blasted toward him in a brilliant column of light. There was an enormous explosion as the blast struck its target. There was nothing but barren wasteland in the aftermath of the attack, it had all been devastated.

Kyuubi searched for a bit, hoping to find any remnants of his opponent, but he found none. He was confident in his victory as he left the battlefield only to find a mirror image of what Chimera had seen before. Chimera was there, heavily damaged. There was a chunk of flesh the size of a basketball missing from his stomach, his jaw was nowhere to be seen, one of his legs was connected to the rest by a slight scrap of skin, his right arm was gone, as were his horns and a good two feet of his tail and he was a mess of blood, but the terrifying thing was not that he was still standing after such horrible injuries, it was that in his left hand was a large spinning ball of chakra and it was comprised of four colors that blended and flowed together and before Kyuubi's eyes a dark brown joined the red, blue, yellow, and green already there and five blades formed around the sphere when it did.

Chimera leapt forward, missing limbs hardly affecting his speed and smashed the Gogyou Rasenshuriken into the Kyuubi's stomach and Kyuubi let out an ear-shattering howl as the mixture of the elements tore his body apart and destroyed every last molecule of his body, leaving nothing behind except a crater the size of several football fields.

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And that is the chapter, one enormous fight between the two. What did you think of the demonic form and the fight in general, I really want to know. Sorry that the chapters have been getting shorter and shorter since chapter twenty five by the way, I hope to fix that starting next chapter.

Anyway, until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	33. Chapter 33

Hello one and all, welcome to the thirty third chapter (is it thirty third

Hello one and all, welcome to the thirty third chapter (is it thirty third? I am not really sure) of Naruto the Chimera. I do not really have anything to say at this point save that there are only going to be two more major 'arcs' if you would for this story. The last world and Chimera's takeover. The first of which shall begin in this story. I hope you enjoy it and I can almost guarantee that what I have planned will blow your minds. See the ending note for my reasons behind it all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho, The Dresden Files, or anything else I have used in this story. All lawyers go fuck yourselves somewhere else.

Note: Sorry the update took awhile, I was out of town for a few days

Second note: In chapter 404, Naruto finally learns that Jiraiya is dead, but we don't even see his fucking reaction yet. Second, and this is fucking HORRIBLE, it appears that now Hawk and Akatsuki are actually working together to obtain the last two Bijuu and destroy Konoha. Oh and apparently Madara is the current Mizukage. Bullshit on all fronts basically.

Enjoy the chapter everyone!

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Summary of the last chapter

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Naruto (Chimera) revealed his full demonic form and the fact that he had devoured the copy of Uchiha Madara's soul and obtained his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan in order to defeat and destroy the Kyuubi, albeit with grave injuries.

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The massive crater where Kyuubi was destroyed

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It was over, the fight between him and his former mentor was over. Chimera collapsed onto the ground and smiled, it was rather difficult without a jaw mind you. He closed his eyes and thought as his wounds healed themselves 'THAT was way too close for comfort. I can't believe I gave him the time he needed to pull off a blast that big. I really wish that he didn't notice the affect the brimstone was having on him, but I still won and that's all that matters. It's a good thing I used my real self on him otherwise that blast would have killed me. I would have been completely annihilated if it weren't for my large body mass when I'm like this. Where is my other kidney? Oh yeah, that pink bitch tore it out didn't she. Fuck, it's painful to re-grow internal organs. Oh well, at least the fight is over, only that last world to take care of and then everything will be in place. Heh, take care of that world, I made it sound difficult. It will be more like a vacation, it will take some time, and after this fight I will need it, I am really too stressed lately.'

Chimera just laid there for a while as his jaw, and tail re-grew themselves and his stump of an arm became whole once more. The internal organs he lost were replaced and his leg was pieced back together. During that time, he just rested. Powerful he may be, but the sudden fear and the immense relief took their toll on the body. This was very important to him however; he had proved himself to himself.

He proved to himself that he did not need the Kyuubi to be truly powerful, that he was not weakened by his absence as many who knew him thought he was. The only way to know for sure was to destroy Kyuubi or someone stronger than Kyuubi and show whether or not he was something more than the sum of his parts, or just that, the sum of his parts, everything he had devoured for power. For the first time in over 100,000 years, the demon overlord, and Archduke of Hell, Chimera who grew to what he was from the young boy Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto, just an abandoned boy with only a demon sealed inside of him and the hatred of an entire world against him gained a measure of peace in his soul and he was able to truly rest for the first time in millennia.

Then a bunch of god damned ANBU showed up. With Chimera in his weakened state, he was in a rather poor mood. A few whispers of 'Rasengan Dangan' and a few corpses later Chimera finally stood with his leg healed back to normal. His arm and tail were healed up as well. The horns required sharpening but other than that they were okay, at the normal length, and the lost internal organs were back in place, whether they were destroyed or lost, he just grew new ones. His jaw was back in place, though with all the muscles that go through it, it was a pain in the neck, literally and figuratively. Chimera took another quick look around to make absolutely sure that Kyuubi was dead and gone, you could never be too sure with him. Satisfied that the ancient demon was no more, Chimera shifted into his preferred humanoid form, only the burn was gone. The eye was still wide, demonic and staring, but the flesh around it was healthy and new.

He kept that burn in remembrance of his hatred of Konoha and of the Kyuubi for making his life a living Hell. Since the Konoha he knew was no more and the Konoha of this world was to be short lived since the apocalypse was going to occur there in less than five thousand years as he counted them, not very long to a person who had existed for a hundred millenniums, he could finally afford to let it go, his vengeance was finally sated with Kyuubi's death and the second Konoha's assured demise. With that fool Homura as Rokudaime Hokage the village wasn't going to last another decade what with Iwa and Kumo planning to invade since the village is now severely weakened with the loss of the Uchiha Clan, and several of their most powerful Jounin. When this happens, Chimera knew that Kiri and Suna would somehow be dragged into it and then new attrition tactics used by Kumo and Iwa would poison the land and rivers and bring famine and drought to several countries. From there it would only be a matter of time until the world's population would die off to a few tens of thousands with a few ninja leading the countries as dictators with the hidden villages destroyed. That would last for several millennia until the influx of Hell's energies mutates several extremely contagious diseases and brings this particular world to an end. He had looked into that world's future and saw the destruction to come. It was not perfect as fate did not exist, but it was a prediction based upon experience and the probability of outcomes.

He did not intend to destroy this world's Konoha, it would destroy itself and he would be content to watch the fools and laugh as the world fell around their ears. Chimera unsealed his sword and sliced through the barriers between dimensions, returning to Hell, returning to home.

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In Hell, Chimera's palace

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Chimera was in his office, which was a rather modest affair, going through finance records and other documents, keeping track of the movements of the other Archdukes. He had things planned out as to what would happen while he was in the final world correcting his ancient mistake. Several demons under his control would take care of his empire in secret while an enhanced version of the Kage Bunshin would take care of things he had to appear at in person while he was gone. It took less chakra to create, and it was a LOT weaker than the user but it would last for years unless its creator dispels it and aside from its level of strength it was impossible to tell it was a fake. He was not exactly sure how the temporal relationship between Hell and that particular world correlated so he made preparations in the anticipation of him being gone for ten years, Hell time, even though he did not expect to be stuck there for more than a few months at most. Still, it was best to be prepared for any circumstances that might arise during his indefinite absence.

This world was incredibly vast, it consisted of an entire galaxy and there were as many 'Shield Bearers', if you would, as there were planets and stars in that galaxy. Admittedly most of them were defeated and their souls collected by the fragment of himself that made it through the crack in the shield during his last attack which was soon after the world was created. It had apparently possessed the one that defeated it after she sealed it inside of her after it had taken a mind of its own; he would have to deal with it lest it eventually get strong enough to enter Hell and attack him. It WAS a part of him after all; it couldn't be trusted in the slightest.

When he finally used the power of the King of Hell Statue for the last time, mixing in his own energy to the stream in order to penetrate the extremely powerful Shield that protected that world, he was garbed in his normal attire, white robe, pants of a tough material with standard ninja sandals, but he did not have his hood up, nor did he wear his mask. He did not really need them anymore. He leapt into the stream of demonic energy smiling as he did, expecting an easy and enjoyable conquest.

He fucked up again. The damn shield was healing itself faster than the energy of the Statue could break it apart, and it was closing in upon him as he made his way through. The power behind the Shield was enormous, greater than any other shield he had ever seen, and it tore him apart as he finally made it through. It was not merely physical wounds that assailed him as he emerged into the world from a portal high in the sky, but also wounds to his chakra system and reservoirs. The shield's defensive mechanisms had caught him by surprise and as a result they had gutted him. He had at the most 0.1 percent of his full power as he crashed hard into the pavement outside of a harbor warehouse, missing his left arm and leg and the front of his torso missing, his organs had fallen from the hole in his chest as he fell, scattering around the bay. He weakly crawled into the nearby warehouse using chakra strings to shut it behind him as he collapsed against a large crate and took check of his injuries.

He thought the name of each part as he checked for their attendance upon his person. 'Left arm and leg are completely incinerated and must be re-grown. Right arm and leg are here, albeit most of the bones are broken. Heart, eh it's somewhere in that bay, same with the left lung. The right lung is in my chest, but it's punctured by several fragments of broken rib, all of which are shattered. My stomach, intestines, and kidneys have gone the way of the Dodo and must be re-grown, damn it all, this hurts like Hell. Skull, fractured, and my neck is broken, simple enough injuries. Right femur and shin are shattered as is my collarbone. Hold on, are THEY still there!?' Chimera's right arm stuttered into motion and swiftly grabbed his crotch. 'OH THANK GOD!' He let out a deep breath that he didn't know he had been holding as he leaned his head against the crate closing his eyes in relief.

He thought 'Okay, I am royally fucked up; damn that Shield to the worst possible place it could go, heaven, hell, or elsewhere. My physical injuries are severe but nothing much considering who I am. The real problem is my chakra system. Repairing it isn't a problem but refilling my coils will be. It will be about a year of recovery before I am at one hundred percent again, fuck. Still, I am not weak by anyone's standards at least. I could still take on a few ANBU without much trouble, though any demon would be laughing at the thought of fighting me as I am now. Well, there isn't anything too strong in this world I think; its shield just has a power overdose so severe it makes me think of comparing me and my father, it was WAY more powerful than I anticipated, it's even stronger than it was last time. Regardless, I am going to be here for quite a while as I get my powers back. Oh well, look on the bright side, none of my enemies can get to me here so I can relax. I was planning on making this a bit of a vacation anyway, just watching life go by for a while and watching girls in mini-skirts. As long as the world's shield bearers don't find me before I get some amount of my power back, I should be okay.'

At that moment the door was busted open suddenly and ten figures rushed in. Nine of them were girls in skirts and the tenth was a dude in a cheesy mask, tuxedo and top-hat. 'Oh God dammit, I just HAD to say it didn't I'.

The one who appeared to be the leader of them all pointed some sort of scepter at him and yelled "Chaos, we have you at our mercy, give up!" **(1)**

Chimera looked in shock at the woman with the dumpling-style hair who radiated some amount of power. The sort of power he could no stand, filled with warmth and kindness, _good_ energy. Not a single deadly sin to do with it at all. Normally he would shrug it off and kill them all, but in his weakened state, the power that all of them radiated combined was more than enough to destroy him, though not by much. Another one though, though she had the form of a child, held a large glaive and radiated power that was similar to his own, power of silence, nothingness, and death, rather interesting. He really hated this situation, but he had no choice. He rose his one hand in a universal gesture of defeat and said in his strange voice that was both angelic and demonic at the same time "Okay, okay I surrender, geez what the fuck did I do to you guys to ordain attacking a man who just got eviscerated eh?"

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Usagi's POV

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This was about the last thing she expected. First off, one week ago, Nehelenia reappeared and caused havoc. They had dealt with her before so it wasn't too difficult the second time, though it was a surprise that Saturn had awoken. Then Setsuna had gathered them all together and told them a fearsome tale. First off, she explained why the Starlights were on their planet, despite the fact that they originated on another planet. It was destroyed by Sailor Galaxia who was supposedly the most powerful Senshi in history. The reason that she did so was that she was possessed by Chaos, who was the source of all evil in the galaxy and that she was coming to their planet to do the same. That was bad enough but then she told the nine of them how Chaos came to be. That Chaos, the source of all evil in their galaxy was just a small fraction that broke off of an unimaginably powerful demon when the galaxy was first created long ago. This didn't seem so important as long as that extremely powerful demon didn't show up again.

Then she told them that she had been looking into the future and that the demon who essentially was the source or Chaos was going to return to their galaxy and the shield that prevented him from invading millennia ago wouldn't be able to stop him this time, but it would weaken him severely, enough so that they could defeat him if they attacked as soon as he appeared.

That the most powerful demon in their history was going to be coming to their planet was not good news with all the strange occurrences lately and Mamoru leaving for America soon. The only reason he hadn't left already was because the flight was delayed due to bad weather on the flight path. She really wasn't looking forward to seeing him go, but he had to do what he had to do, she guessed.

Then the day finally came when their fears came true, a bright light appeared in the sky and a streak of light crashed into the ground near the bay. They met up with the Outers and Tuxedo Kamen and went to investigate. They had followed some mysterious bloodstains from the impact crater into a nearby warehouse, expecting to see some horrifying monster mauling some poor person it had caught, only to see a tall, yet pale man with one glowing red eye and one piercing blue eye wearing a torn and burned white robe missing a couple of limbs and a complete mess of blood lying against a crate, nursing his wounds. It was the last thing any of them expected. Somehow realizing that this wounded person was the demon they were looking for, they asked him to surrender, expecting him to refuse and start to attack as every demon before him had done only to get the biggest shock of their lives when he actually raised his hand in surrender and gave up. None of them really knew what to do at this point.

He just stared at her with those piercing eyes and said "Okay, I've surrendered, now what? Do you plan to kill me, someone who is unarmed, injured, and willing you no malice? What are you planning to do?"

None of them could really have anticipated his voice, it was beautiful and hideous, uplifting and dreary, melodic and broken, angelic and demonic at the same time, and she couldn't seem to get enough of it, something inside of her just wanted to listen to that voice forever, not caring about anything else. She had to ask him to repeat his question, she was so distracted. "What did you say?"

Chimera just looked at the girl and said "What do you plan to do now that I have surrendered? Do you plan to let me go, or do you plan to kill someone who has surrendered and is injured and unarmed. Are you going to murder me in cold blood or not?"

She was taken aback at his question. How could she even consider such a thing? She said "Of course not." The moment Sailor Uranus said "Of course."

"What?" Usagi looked at Haruka in shock and surprise. She looked back at her and said "He is a demon, a youma, the cause of all evil we have ever seen. How could we allow him to recover, if we kill him now we avoid a lot of problems in the future."

The demon in question just looked at the boyish lesbian arguing for his death and said to her "That would be rather unwise considering the situation you are in."

All of them looked at him and said "What?" in complete unison.

He smirked and said "Before you consider murdering me, you should know that if I die, other demons almost as powerful as I am would be able to enter your world. My existence is the only thing preventing them from doing so. That combined with the fact that if you decide to kill me I would be able to take several of you with me before I go makes letting me live your best option."

The blue haired one, Ami asked him "How could you possibly hurt us in your condition? You are at your absolute weakest right now."

As a response, Chimera just looked at her and swept his arm in an upward vertical slash. A blade of wind sliced off a small lock of her hair and cut through the cast iron wall of the warehouse behind her, then he flicked a nearby crate that must have weighed several tons with a single finger and it went flying through the air, leaving a very large, box-shaped dent in the solid steel behind it.

He looked at their supposed leader, the one radiating the most power, though it wasn't much by his standards and said "Like I said, I may be at my absolute weakest as you say, but you must take that in perspective. I can take out several of you before you could strike me down. At least four of you, and I know just who to kill to make it hurt the most."

She looked at him with a bit of fear and asked what he was talking about. He smirked and said "I would take the ones who would hurt you and your future the most." He pointed to Hotaru "Her, her" With that he pointed at Michiru, he pointed at Setsuna and said "Her" and pointed at Mamoru and said "And him. A holder of great power, a lover of one of your own, a good friend and your early warning system to danger and your current boyfriend and husband-to-be. Even at my weakest I still have enough power to cause great harm to you all, but I know of a way to prevent all of this. You can guarantee my neutrality and you can all go on with you battle. I could even help you in your fight you know. All we would have to do is make a promise. I promise that if you let me live I will not hurt anyone and I will even help you fight you foes."

The one with the crystal ball, Sailor Pluto sternly said to Usagi as she opened her mouth to agree "Don't believe him, he's lying." She looked at her and said "How do you know, why are you being so suspicious?" She was backed up my Makoto and Minako on her claim, they were very naive. Chimera just looked at the woman, scrutinizing her and watching her carefully, this one could be irritating given the opportunity.

Setsuna looked at Usagi and said "Its simple, he never keeps his word unless he has no choice, it is how his kind do things. There is only one way to guarantee that he will keep his word and THAT" she started walking toward him "And that is to get the agreement in writing. Even he can't break a contract. Is that not so?"

Chimera grimaced and reluctantly nodded. The woman smiled and said to them all "See? He knows what I mean, if we don't get any agreement in writing, we can only trust him to do what he thinks is best for himself. We have to sign a contract with him if we want to believe him about anything."

Chimera glanced at the woman and asked her "Are you asking me for a contract?" She nodded and he just looked at her and said "You know something about me at least. Not nearly as much as I know about you but very well, if it is a contract you want, I will give you an opportunity that I have given no one else."

The ten of them looked puzzled at his words, but he did not explain as he created from nothing a scroll of ancient looking parchment and a quill pen and began jerkily writing the contract in his own blood. Rei, Sailor Mars, asked him "What do you mean by that?"

Chimera looked up from writing the contract, which was actually a delicate process. He had to carefully add a combination of normal and fire based chakra to his blood as he wrote everything down so that the paper wouldn't vanish and the contract would have power and so that the blood dried upon contact to avoid dripping and ruining the manuscript. He looked down at the parchment and continued writing. He asked them, mainly Setsuna, "Do you know why I do what I do?"

The lot of them didn't know what he was talking about, but the oldest and wisest of them, Setsuna, said "You mean why you destroy entire worlds? No I do not."

Chimera smirked slightly and said "I do so because I honestly believe that humans are the absolute most horrible species in all of existence, that they deserve to be completely and utterly annihilated. I have never seen one reason not to believe this. I will give you the opportunity to prove me wrong since you defend humans with your lives. There, done." He completed the contract and placed eleven X's followed by eleven straight lines beside those X's. He handed the contract to them and said "Read and sign it in your own blood to make this agreement final."

Usagi took the demonic contract and read it aloud.

'_The first ten signatories of this contract hereby swear not to attack or harm the eleventh signatory of this contract. In return the eleventh signatory hereby swears not to attack the first ten signatories, or any other human being on this planet. These oaths will begin as soon as this contract is signed and shall last for one year and one day after signing._

_During this period of mutual armistice, the first ten signatories shall do their utmost to convince the eleventh signatory that human lives are precious and should be protected, and that they do not deserve to be exterminated. Should the first ten signatories succeed, than the eleventh shall leave this world with their assistance, never to return. Should they fail however, the eleventh signatory shall take the souls of the first ten signatories upon the end of the period of armistice._

_During this period of armistice between the two parties, the eleventh signatory swears to assist the first ten signatories with the destruction of the beasts that they combat known as 'Youmas' until the end of the armistice period._

_In the event of the death of one or more of the first ten signatories of the contract before the armistice period ends, the eleventh signatory shall take his or her soul and retain possession of it forever, regardless of any extenuating circumstances surrounding the death of the person in question._

_Should the oaths of armistice be broken by either of the two parties in question, the armistice period shall end and judgment shall be taken in the form of the deal regarding the sanctity of human lives shall be automatically decided in favor of the wronged party regarding the premature breaking of the armistice and just dues shall be taken accordingly._

_By these Accords we eleven swear to obey them as they are written._

When she finished reading Usagi looked at the downed demon and just said "What on earth does all of that mean?" Several of the Senshi just sighed as did Chimera.

Chimera looked at her and said "We agree not to attack each other for one year and one day, and I will not kill any humans either. During that time, you ten shall attempt to convince me beyond any doubt that humans should be protected not annihilated. I will also assist you in destroying any youmas during that time. Should you succeed I will leave peacefully with you assistance and never come back. Should you fail however, I will take the souls of all ten of you. Should any of you die before the year is up, I will be allowed to take their soul, regardless of whatever circumstances behind the death. If any of you attack me, of if I attack you before the year is up, than it will be as if the attacked one won the dispute regarding the sanctity of human lives. In other words, if any of you attack me, I will be allowed to take all of your souls. If I attack you than I will have to leave this world in peace forever, signing that contract will hold you to these agreements. Just prick your finger and sign the contract in your own blood in the first ten spots. I have to be the signer of the eleventh spot on the contract.

None of the ten could find anything wrong that they could actually win in an argument, so all ten of them signed the contract in their own blood, sealing their agreement and swearing their obedience to the contract's terms.

Chimera took the contract back and looked at the signatures. '_Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, Aino Minako, Tenoh Haruka, Kaioh Michiru, Tomoe Hotaru, Meioh Setsuna, Chiba Mamoru.'_ Chimera smiled as he read the names. He was going to have a very fun year. He bit him thumb after he laid the paper on the ground and signed it with his real name. _'Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto'_

As soon as the signature was completed, the entire paper glowed with a golden light. When the glow died down, the contract was rolled up and sealed with black wax in Chimera's hand. There was an identical copy in the hands of each of the ten before him. He simply said "Those are your copies of the contract; keep them safe because you won't be getting another one. Also since they have all of your real names on them, it would be unwise to allow your enemies to read them. If that is all, leave, our business is concluded here."

Before they turned to leave, Makoto said "Hey, how are we supposed to meet you if we're going to convince you that humans should be spared?"

He looked at the girl and said "Don't worry; you'll be seeing me quite a bit. Before you leave though, I need to ask a favor. You, Odango, come here; I need to ask you something." She looked unsure but she obeyed and stood near him. He simply said "I need you to help me heal myself. I could do this on my own, but it's faster if I have some assistance." She bit her lip but nodded, she said "What do you need me to do?"

He looked at her and said "First, take off my robe. It's damaged beyond repair anyway and it doesn't seem to be in your world's fashion, I will not need it." She just blushed and said "Um, wouldn't that leave you, umm, naked?"

He just looked at the girl and said "Oh for Satan's sake, no. I am wearing pants underneath, just tear the thing off already." She shakily nodded and did as she was told. Chimera's maimed form was then revealed to the world.

The lot of them were amazed. How could anyone survive such injuries? Most of his torso was gone, and they could literally see his collapsed ribcage and his chest cavity, lack of heart and organs included. The air didn't do much for the pain as Chimera clenched his eyes shut. He just growled out "Now, look at my right shoulder, do you see a mark?" Usagi looked carefully and found what she hoped she was supposed to be looking for. "Is it a small purple diamond kind of thing?" Chimera nodded and said "Yes, yes now, put some of my blood on the mark." She looked at him about to question him but he just barked out "Do it!" and she just did as she was told, all of the others watching, wary for treachery.

She put her gloved hand in the demon's blood and dabbed it upon the seal on his shoulder. Chimera raised his right hand and made a one handed seal before saying "Infuuin, Kai!" when he did the diamond glowed bright and purple swirls covered his shoulder. He did several one handed seals and gasped out "Souzou Saisei!"

What happened next amazed them all. The purple markings vanished and his body miraculously started healing itself. They watched as before their eyes a new heart and digestive system formed, the remaining lung was healed and a second lung grew in, the bones came together flawlessly and a new arm and leg grew from the stumps. New muscle and bone covered the hole in his chest and new skin covered that and the newly regenerated limbs. Within a minute of so, all of his wounds were healed and Chimera stood tall, towering above all of them by at least several inches. He had even gotten taller during the healing for some reason and now stood at least 6'6. He brushed off his pants and arms and they saw the purple diamond mark Usagi described appear upon his shoulder as he did so. He looked at Usagi and said "Thank you. I will see you all soon, until then." The moment his sentence was finished he vanished. Just vanished, no smoke or energy or anything, it was as if he wasn't ever there and the only evidence that he was would be the gallon or so of blood on the floor and the torn, bloody and burned robe near the stains. The lot of them just went home with no idea what they had just gotten themselves into by signing that demonic contract, by making a deal with the devil.

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The next day, Usagi's school

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Usagi was almost late to class again, but that was normal for her. When she got to class about five seconds before the bell she got into her seat next to Ami for first hour Trigonometry. She didn't expect much when the teacher was telling the class that they had a new student but when the door opened, so did her jaw of her own accord. The man was about six and a half feet tall, and wore the boy's uniform for her school and was carrying a school bag and a medium sized duffle bag in one hand. His hair was bound by an iron ring into a ponytail and reached his waist and his eyes were a piercing blue. His skin was a slight tan and he was probably very strong judging by the slabs of flat athlete's muscle that adorned his arms. He looked at the class, in which most of the girls were blushing, Usagi and Ami included, and he said "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, it's a pleasure to meet all of you." While giving a smile that seemed genuine, but was clearly a fake if you looked closely enough.

Usagi couldn't believe that this was supposed to be a demon; maybe he wasn't so bad after all. At least she hoped so.

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(1) Yes, I picked Sailor Moon. Why you may ask? Simple, someone mentioned this in a review and it seemed like a good idea. Also this was the first anime I ever saw as a kid so I have a soft spot he size of the head of a pin in my heart for it, what can I say? I royally fucked with the timeline though. Basically it is during Stars, but Mamoru's flight was delayed so he stayed for a few extra days. The entire thing is a day or two after the first battle in Stars after Nehelenia was defeated. As for my reasons for choosing it, see below.

And that is the chapter. I hope you enjoyed it because this little arc is going to explore Chimera's character a bit more. In this arc I am going to show that it takes more than immense power to be great, it also takes wit, cunning, and backstabbing, cutthroat tendencies. This little arc which I think will last one to two more chapters will explore that, the person Chimera is behind all of the power. It will be more about subtlety and deceit rather than awesome combat scenes, sorry about that.

Anyway what did you guys think? Sorry it took so long, but my reasons are at the top of the chapter. Until next time, see you around.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	34. Chapter 34

Hello to you all, this is the not long awaited chapter 34 of Naruto the Chimera

Hello to you all, this is the not long awaited chapter 34 of Naruto the Chimera. Man oh man, last chapter I got the definition of mixed opinion. About half of you guys understood more or less what was happening and the plot devices in play and understood the choice, while the other half just plain hated the idea.

Don't think that just because the anime I chose is inherently good that it will turn from evil to fluff or anything like that because it WILL NOT HAPPEN. Overall the guys who understood it the most were Vilkath and Siegfriedzz. (To Siegfriedzz, I think that was the longest PM I have EVER seen, thanks anyway for it though). They weren't the only ones, but those two got the motivation behind it more than anyone else.

For those thinking that the evil will just vanish, you are just plain wrong. The evil will be there as much as it was, it will just be more subtle and out of plain view. Also for those thinking that the lot of them put their souls on the line too easily, the reasons for that are going to be explained, don't worry. Oh and someone mentioned that Chimera's skin tone changed from deathly pale, to a more tan complexion, just so you guys know, that isn't an indication of anything, that was just him not wanting to stand out overly much by appearing half dead, nothing more.

Anyway, I hope you guys all enjoy the chapter, but don't expect any heavy combat or anything, like I said in the previous chapter, this section will be more about deceit and cunning than overwhelming power though there will be a certain amount of that as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else I use. If I DID than for one thing, Naruto would not be as fucked up as it is, and I would be living in a gigantic mansion or something, not this apartment, though it is very nice.

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Summary of last chapter

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The Senshi caught Chimera in an absolutely pathetically weakened state, and he managed to save his skin by making them a deal. He would assist them in their fights and they would attempt to convince him that humanity didn't deserve to be annihilated. If they failed he would get their souls, he would also attain their souls if they attacked him, or if they died before the contract expired in one year. Where we left off, Chimera joined Usagi's High school class. Let the chapter begin.

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Usagi's Trigonometry class

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Chimera enjoyed the look of shock on the faces of the two girls as he strode down the aisle and sat down in an empty seat next to Usagi. She couldn't keep her eyes of him and neither could any girl in the class. You devour enough incubi and other demons of lust and you have to beat the girls away with a stick. The one they called Mamoru had already left for America and so ended his involvement in the ongoing affairs. He could not kill any of the ten who signed the contract but he could easily enough arrange for unfortunate accidents to occur. In this case he put a beacon upon the man that also acted as a slight defense against attack. Since it was defensive in nature, he could use such tactics without breaking the agreement's letter and with him being one of his fragment's targets, it would guarantee his death. The spirit behind it was all but shattered, but he didn't have to abide by that.

The result of his beacon/shield was that the piece of him left behind showed up and ripped his soul out, or rather his 'Star Seed' which was basically the person's soul. However what he didn't intend was for his fragment to keep the thing. He would have to deal with his fragment in order to collect the souls he was owed. All in good time however, he wasn't in any hurry. He had an entire year before his powers were fully restored, and he had all that time to rest, recover, stab people in the back and tear them apart mentally and emotionally. He was looking forward to bringing truckloads of grey into their black and white world. The results of such things were always worth watching. In the meantime however, he had this woman babbling on about advanced mathematics. Boring as hell and it was even more boring considering the fact that he knew all of this crap already. You live for around 300,000 years on your own plus the memories of uncounted devoured millions and you tend to know quite a lot. Well, good thing he brought entertainment for such an event. He reached toward the duffle-bag he brought with him.

Usagi was as shocked as she possible could be. The boy sitting next to her was the most powerful demon she had ever seen and the greatest threat to everything she knew, but he was acting normal. She and Ami kept their eyes on him the entire time, but he never did anything suspicious. Then all of a sudden he reached down and opened the second bag he had with him. The two Senshi in the room tensed, ready for anything but their fears were uncalled for when he pulled out a Rubix cube. Out of curiosity Usagi looked into the still opened bag and saw nothing but Rubix cubes, every last one of them looking like it was mixed in a blender. There must have been fifty of sixty of them at least.

She looked over to the demon in disguise and saw that he had already solved the thing! It couldn't have been two minutes since he started and he already solved the thing. He put the cube on his desk and took out another one. Needless to say he had attracted the class's attention by now, anything was better than listening to the teacher babble on about a subject that no one cared about.

Time went on and all of the cubes were solved before the class ended. They were all stacked in neat rows of nine by nine on his desk. What's more, every one of them had the same color facing in the same direction so it looked like one gigantic cube on his desk. This of course attracted the teacher's attention and she called on him to answer the question she had just written on the board. He took one glance at it, looked at the woman and said "The answer is 4 pi squared."**(1) **Everyone was stunned, he hadn't even glanced at the board before now and he got the question right. The teacher's eyebrows were close to her hairline, and she just continued on with the lesson, ignoring the new student.

All of the classes went on more or less the same, though History was more interesting. He just un-solved and re-solved those cubes every class and the History teacher didn't really like it. Makoto told the rest of them what happened later but the teacher just asked him if he wanted to teach the class instead. Instead of shutting up like most students would he just nodded, stood up and went to the board and continued the lecture the teacher had started. The poor dude supposedly looked like he was going to have a stroke. **(2)**

Needless to say he had a fangirl team stalking him by lunchtime. He just climbed into a tree in hopes of avoiding them and went to sleep in the branches. The rumor mill was running overtime about the guy. The Inner Senshi were talking about him all the while amongst themselves, well the four that were there. Rei attended a private school.

They discussed how they were going to convince him that humanity wasn't all that horrible. They couldn't really think of anything concrete, so they would all just try their best individually. They weren't all that worried, after all they had an entire year to convince him right? What each of them was thinking about was what all ten of the people who had confronted the weakened Chimera was thinking about. The main question was 'Why did I sign that contract?' None of them could explain it, they didn't put anything resembling thought into it at all they just signed the thing on impulse. What they did not know was that they were manipulated into signing it. Chimera, even in his weakened state, was still cunning and just as dangerous as he was with his full powers intact. That demonstration of strength was not just a demonstration. He used that to put fear into their minds, enough so that his killing intent would work its magic.

When most people used killing intent it was used to blast their foes in a solid wave and paralyze them, or slow their movements to give them an advantage. What most people did not know was that it could be used in more subtle maneuvers than just that. Chimera used an extremely small amount of killing intent and used their fear against them, subconsciously making them fear him and creating an urge to leave his presence as soon as possible. They all subconsciously realized that signing that contract without argument was the fastest way to leave and they signed it on impulse, having little to no conscious control of their actions. The mind is a powerful and complex thing, and Chimera had millennia to learn how to best manipulate others to doing his will, whether they wanted to, or not, whether they realized it or not.

When the day finally ended, they tried to find Chimera but he was nowhere to be found, he just vanished. Later that day, their enemy attacked again. When they confronted her, they had a bit of a surprise visitor join in the fight.

Their enemy had several agents under her control; they collected the Star Seeds of people, searching for specific ones. The enemy's servant, Sailor Iron Mouse, had removed the Seed from a person, hoping that it would be one that she was looking for, only to be disappointed as the crystalline shape turned jet black. She turned to the Senshi and was about to leave when she suddenly felt a very strong pressure around her neck.

The Senshi were shocked, as were the Starlights who were watching, Chimera in his full mask and robe had appeared out of nowhere, appearing from thin air, cut through the Seed that would turn into a monster in a few seconds and grabbed the small woman be the neck. The poor dude who had the Seed cut through just vanished, as if he was never there. Chimera looked at the figure writhing in his hands, trying to escape and then he looked at the Senshi. He just said "You guys were having trouble with THIS?" They all looked slightly ashamed, though the Outers retained their stony indifference. He looked at the captured enemy again and said "For Magog's sake, I thought that you guys actually had enemies worth taking on, but this is just pathetic. Honestly, it's like you just fool around in battle." At that he suddenly turned around and smashed her head into a wall behind him, leaving a sizable crater and smashing her skull, the body disappeared almost immediately after she died.

Chimera wiped a bit of blood off of his hands and looked at them; he just said "Now was THAT so hard? Honestly it's like you guys don't even know how to fight, what the hell. Jeez, I thought these fights would be somewhat worthy of my time, but boy was I wrong. I will see you all later." After that he just vanished, the same way he appeared, completely without a trace. The Senshi just left without comment or discussion between them, wondering how strong Chimera must be if he could defeat enemies they struggled against at less than one percent of his full power. Chimera however watched them all and smiled, he couldn't kill humans, but non humans were fair game, as far as their agreement was concerned.

Chimera was always watching the nine of them, searching for weaknesses or flaws that he could exploit. With some of them it was fairly easy, Haruka and Michiru's weaknesses were each other, Rei's was her grandfather, with the rest of them it was their parents. The only exception to this rule was Setsuna, she had no family and her only friend was out of his reach. With Usagi, she had many such weaknesses, Mamoru, her parents, her brother, her fellow Senshi, and most recently, Seiya, lead singer of the Three Lights band and one of the three Starlight Senshi. He was going to have fun destroying all they cared about. Most of it would have to wait, but there were five beings that he could kill with their agreement in effect. He headed over to the apartment that Three Lights owned, planning to take out all five in a single day.

The three members of Three Lights, Seiya, Taiki, and Yaten while searching for their princess who was in this city had a penthouse apartment while they were in town. Could they have made an easier target? Chimera stood upon a nearby rooftop and looked over at the other building, making sure his targets were inside. He grinned when he saw that they were. He had managed to regenerate a grand total of one percent of his full power in the time since they signed the contract, and it was more than enough to take care of five mortals of their pathetic strength. He raised his right hand into the air and a concentration of chakra gathered there. His hand glowed red with the amount of fire chakra being concentrated in that one part of his body. He snapped his fingers and the chakra broke into concentrated pieces that stopped in midair, and then expanded into a dozen large spheres of scarlet flame. They were each the size of a car and he brought his hand down, pointing toward the penthouse. He just muttered under his breath 'Overlord's Wrath' as the spheres of energy collided with the penthouse and the entire thing went up in flames after an enormous explosion ripped it apart. He had to admit to himself, that blue haired punk while he was a loudmouth, actually had a grain of power to him to have moves like that one, he made a good meal. That was what you got when you challenged someone like him to a fight.

He waited until the flames died down slightly and jumped over to the ruined building, he saw the three mangled bodies of his deceased targets and soon afterward found what he was looking for, their souls floating gently through the air. He jumped up and grabbed all three of them. He placed a slight seal that took the form of a crystalline translucent diamond shape around the three to preserve them and put them into a small pouch. Then he went to look for the remaining two targets. He idly wondered how the papers would explain the explosion.

The second target was a young woman with long red hair. She was the princess the Starlights were looking for up till now. She resided in a small apartment building which he had no trouble breaking into. When she saw the cloaked figure she opened her mouth to scream, but was prevented by an inhumanly strong backhand across the face that sent her across the room. He advanced upon her and took her hand, hauling her to her feet and quickly snapped his fingers. Eight pillars that looked like fangs erupted from the ground around them and black lightning played between them. With her still stunned Chimera raised his right hand and the skin turned black, the nails lengthened into sharp claws. He rammed his hand into her chest, knocking the breath out of his captive at the same time and gently pulled out a small object. Her Star Seed, her soul. The body vanished, as did the pillars and his hand turned back to normal as he put her soul into the same pouch that contained the others. He turned to leave and jumped out of the window, the broken glass being the only evidence that he was ever there.

The fifth target was the least noticeable, but definitely the most dangerous if given the chance to be. She was a small girl no more than three or four years old, with red hair. The moment he saw her he rushed her from behind as his hand grew into a claw and he hit her in the side of the head hard enough to tear it from the girl's shoulders. When she died, the girl's body vanished and a Star Seed formed. The only difference between that one and the others thus far was that the glow of it was enough to completely illuminate the alleyway he was in, almost blinding him. He closed his eyes tight in a hope to preserve his vision and grabbed the thing, putting in the same pouch as the ones before it. He opened his eyes and let out a small sigh. That was it, the preparations were done. That last girl was the physical embodiment of the 'light of hope' that the Starlights were searching for. It was actually the Star Seed, the preserved soul of Galaxia, of the mortal that defeated his fragment and sealed it within herself. If it was left alone, she would have met the Senshi and with her help they could have defeated Galaxia. Now though, it was out of the picture and they were doomed to fail. All he had to do was wait and watch the event unfold. Before that though he had one thing to do with those newly captured souls. He vanished into the shadows, heading toward a large building labeled 'Galaxy TV'.

He appeared near the building's front entrance and waited in the shadows. Before long his patience was rewarded and a black haired woman exited the building. She was another of the mortals his fragment had under its control. He didn't know her name, but knew that she was known as 'Tin Nyanko'. He spoke to the woman and got her attention and she slowly approached him. To her he was just a shape in the darkness, unable to be seen. He reached out with one hand toward her, in that hand was the pouch containing the five souls he had collected that night. He said to her 'Give this to your master it will help her in her ambitions. The woman took the bag from the offered hand and opened it. The moment she did and immense light poured from it. She looked through the mighty glare and found five true Star Seeds, the kind that she was looking for, and one of them glowed brighter than anything she had seen before. She looked back to the shape in the darkness, only to find that it was already gone.

Chimera leapt from rooftop to rooftop toward the apartment he was living in, happy that the main part of the work was done. This entire world, this immense galaxy, was a breeding ground for pure souls, and he knew that there was an immense store of them held by his fragment. He knew that the ones he gave that servant would be added to that immense cache and that the only ones in that entire galaxy that had been unclaimed by his fragment belonged to the nine women that had signed his contract. He didn't have to do anything now, until the end where they finally met his fragment and were beaten. All he had to do was wait for them to die and then destroy his fragment once and for all and that would be more than enough reward for all the pain and effort he had gone through. The only problem he had was that waiting for that to happen was going to be boring as hell, so he had to find a way to amuse himself until then and he thought of the perfect way to do that.

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Next day, Usagi's school, lunch

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The four Senshi that attended the school were completely shocked, and among the four one of them was blushing like mad. Around them all, the local fangirls were glaring with rage and hatred at said blushing girl. The reason she was blushing was simple, Uzumaki Naruto, horrifying demon in human form, though most people did not know that, had just asked Tsukino Usagi on a date! Mind you, the three Senshi listening in on the conversation knew the real reason behind it, as did the blushing Usagi. She knew it wasn't going to be a real date, just a night out during which she was to attempt to convince him of humanity's innocence as they agreed on in the contract, but it was still very embarrassing to be asked out in front of so many people, and the fangirls were going to be threatening mayhem. She managed to calm down after a while, and began to think of a possible way to convince a horrible demon that humanity wasn't all that bad. She could try and get over the slight depression that struck her when she heard of Seiya's death by reminding herself of what she was defending. The newspapers said that it was a gas explosion and a horrible accident that killed them and she was very shaken by the entire thing. She hoped that she could convince Chimera that humanity was not as bad as he thought.

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Around 7 PM, some random place

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Chimera had picked up the girl in question in a huge hummer. After five minutes had gone by for her to climb up to the passenger seat, he took off to a secluded spot. It was a wide cliff-top with a good view of the city, a very romantic place, but he mostly just wanted the peace, quiet, and immense amounts of littering opportunities. They sat down and enjoyed the view, until Chmera went back to the car and brought out a 12 pack of Heineken.

"Ugh, what's that for?" She asked. The humanoid demon looked at her and said "If I have to listen to your self righteous stuff when I am anything other than totally plastered, I will probably go insane. If you want one you can have one though, I have like twenty more 12 packs in the trunk." Then he sat down and took out one of the bottles, opened it, and chugged it down. He let out a long sigh and said "Okay, begin." As he reached for the second bottle. She proceeded to give a whole lot of moral reasons why humans weren't that bad.

He eventually stopped her and said "I call bullshit on all of that. First thing, you said that humans make mistakes but they can reform, you are wrong on that one, all humans only pretend to reform while actually wanting to commit such acts again, the only reason they don't is because they would be imprisoned or killed if they gave into their desires. Second you said that people are more good than bad, and that most are innocent that is also untrue, all humans are inherently evil, they all have dark desires that they would like nothing more than to fulfill, and no one except the youngest of children is innocent truly innocent and that is quickly lost. Every last human has committed wrong and sin, have caused others misery and as a whole the race must be destroyed. There is also the 'love' issue that you brought up, that since humans feel love; they could not possibly be evil. First off, love does not exist, it is merely an interaction of hormones and physical attraction to another person within a persons' mind that evolves into an infatuation. It is nothing but the human instinct to reproduce, nothing more, nothing less. I have a question for you though, why do you do what you do, defend humans from those that would harm them when you can easily stand by and let people meet their end, why do put yourself and those that you care about pointlessly at risk?"

Usagi was shocked and surprised, she did not expect her argument to fall apart that easily, she expected this to be difficult but she hoped to make some ground, instead she got almost immediately shot down and her motives questioned. She took a moment to think before she said "I couldn't let anything like that happen, I couldn't let people die, and protecting them is the right thing to do. I am not putting anyone at risk either, I know we will come out of everything okay, it's destiny."

The moment she said the word 'destiny' he immediately looked her straight in the eye and said "Never say that word to me again, the same goes for fate. Neither of them exists."

She looked at him shocked "Of course destiny exists!" she insisted.

He took a swig of beer before looking at her and saying "So you say that you are destined to live a happy life with all of your friends and that all of your enemies will fall because of destiny?" She nodded, and then he continued on "By that token, some person that was sold into slavery before she was even old enough to know what slavery was and was mercilessly tormented until she eventually died is fate too and that nothing would be able to save her from that endless misery since it is fate that she receive it?" She once again looked surprised, she never thought of anything like that and she told him so.

He smirked and said "Everything has two sides to it, light and dark, two sides of the same coin. Light and dark, Yin and Yang, Good and Evil, two opposing sides, what is good for one side is bad for the other, returning to my original metaphor, the girl's slavery was good for her master who had his laundry washed and his house cleaned for nothing. Your battle with Queen Beryl was the same; did you ever wonder why she wanted to destroy the Silver Millennium so long ago? I doubt anyone knows save for herself and a few others. I will merely say that your mother wronged her severely and threw her into exile for no reason other than her own jealousy. You would be surprised to know the real motives behind many that put themselves against you in the past."

Usagi was shocked and furious at the same time; she was shocked at his logic and furious at saying that her mother would ever do anything like that. She just said "You're lying! My mother would never do anything of the sort!"

He chuckled at that, the kind girl had a temper it seemed. He looked her right in the eye and said "It is true, why do you think her soul is in hell, doing the laundry for Mephistopheles? I read her rap sheet once, was as long as you are tall. You never knew your mother, she was very kind to people in her own kingdom but she was quite malicious to outsiders. She was pretty power hungry too. How much do you know of your father?"

She was once again shocked and surprised. Her mother was in hell, doing laundry for a demon? She had never heard anything about her mother like what this demon was telling her. Then the surprise when she realized that she knew nothing about her father from the Silver Millennium and to him as such.

He took another drink, emptying that bottle and tossed it over the Cliffside where it smashed at the bottom just like the twenty before it. Demons have a very high tolerance for alcohol; a lightweight could guzzle a pint of absinthe before getting tipsy. Then he told her a secret that no one knew about the late Queen Serenity save the demons who had read her list of sins. That she poisoned her husband after Usagi was born so that she would be the lone sovereign. Usagi looked like a female Orochimaru, she was so shocked.

He chuckled slightly and said "See what I mean, no one is innocent. I have lived for over a hundred millennia, and have assimilated the knowledge and memories of millions of mortals and demons, every possible lifestyle, men women, children, world leaders, gangsters, rich corrupted politicians, happily married people, cocaine addicts, the list goes on. I have essentially lived every possible life style and I have seen no proof in any of them that humanity deserves anything less than utter destruction."

He quickly stood up, taking Usagi by the arm and when she was standing, he took her chin and forced her to look into his eyes, one blue and piercing, the other glowing red and demonic. He just said "Look into my eyes, see my memories for yourself and see if I am truly wrong." Then a third eye opened above the first two and she was forced to look at it. It was completely red like one of his other eyes and it had a hypnotic, spiraling design instead of an iris. She looked into that third eye and the world itself shifted as he whispered one word 'Tsukuyomi'.

She stood upon a plain of black earth, black clouds, a bloody sky and bloody moon looking down on her from the heavens. The demon she hoped to convince appeared near her and said "See my memories for yourself, see humanity at its darkest and see how it completely eclipses all light."

Her vision shifted and she saw a young boy, hated, poisoned, harmed, and almost killed. She saw a man pleading with a balding man behind a desk to spare his life, when the man just said to a suited man near the door to take him somewhere for an accident and the man pulled him from the room. A man being sentenced to death despite the fact that every man who sentenced him to death knew he was innocent. She saw friends murdering friends, fathers killing their sons, wives, and daughters. Prisoners tortured for being a certain race, horrible men raping and murdering poor women who had their backs turned in the wrong neighborhood. She saw every possible horror that Chimera had seen and known that he could pack into the Tsukuyomi's time span. Even though the length of the illusion was immense, it was nowhere near large enough to show all of what he had to show her, the full darkness of humanity.

When the illusion ended the girl feinted, there in his arms. He put her back into the car and took her home. A malicious smirk adorned his face as he went back home. He would tear apart everything that girl knew and enjoy every second that her faith in humanity and her innocence screamed in agony as they were sadistically murdered. He would rip the wounds wider than they would be as she fell, and cause all the pain he could before the nine that stood against him fell.

Over the next month, the same occurred. He killed their enemies ruthlessly and easily, and when he talked with Usagi, he showed her more and more of the darkness that was humanity. She was not so upbeat anymore, not quite so cheerful. She was darker, more cynical, more depressed. None of the Senshi knew what was causing it, no one did, but Haruka drew some conclusions and confronted Chimera upon them.

She found him in his apartment, it was a pain to find it but it wasn't impossible. She knocked and when he opened the door she strode right in, closing the door behind her. The first thing she said was "What have you done to Usagi!?"

He looked at her and said "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She looked him right in the eye and said "I don't know what you are doing to her, but stay away from her." He looked the woman right in the eye and said "And what if I do not? What are you planning to do?"

She looked at him with utmost loathing and said "I will destroy you."

He did the only thing he could have possible done, he laughed. "Hahahaha, YOU think that you could kill ME! Oh that is beyond rich. Even if you could that would be breaking our agreement." Then he vanished and appeared right behind the woman, whispering into her ear, his voice deadly serious "You should be very happy that I can not kill you, our agreement alone keeps your neck unbroken, your skull un-cracked. Just know this mortal, if you attack me the only way you would keep your soul would be to kill me, and you lack the power and skill to do so, you always will lack that. Know this, just because I cannot kill you does not mean I can not harm you. People are easily swayed, easily tempted. I can more than easily destroy the life you have built, destroy all you know without ever laying a hand upon you. A hack here, a forged document there, a bribed official elsewhere and I could put you and your lover into bankruptcy; I could make your life a living hell, same goes for those you care about. By all means though, if you want to attack me go ahead. Just know that I will not kill you, not immediately. I will kill all those you care about right in front of you, I would have a lot of fun with Michiru too, I would love the look on your face as I skinned her alive right in front of you, knowing that it was you that allowed me to do that to her. Never assume that you can compare to me mortal, because I could kill you without even trying."

As soon as he ended that last sentence, he vanished and the room burst into flames. There was smoke everywhere, blazing fire engulfed the way to the door, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, she panicked. She saw a window was open with a fire escape and she raced toward it. She had one foot out the window when the flames vanished, like they were never there, so did the heat, the smoke, and the fire escape. She stood, one foot out the window, from an apartment four stories up. She moved back into the room, fighting her immense fear.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she was suddenly outside of his apartment. He whispered to her "You see? I do not have to do anything to kill you, or anyone else. Why should I kill you, when you will kill yourself? That is how you will end, Tenoh Haruka, by your own hand, and no one else's." Then he went back into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

Haruka left the building and fought desperately against the urge to shiver and the immense fear that she still could not banish.

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(1) I know absolutely jack shit about Trigonometry so this could or could not be a Trigonometry answer, I don't really know, nor do I care.

(2) I actually saw a dude do this once, no joke, and it was beyond funny, he did the job better than the teacher, he got a detention for 'insubordination' but that dude is now LEGNDARY where it happened.

And that is the chapter, the next one shall be the last in this 'arc' and I am already got an idea for another story in mind, but I will not begin it until this story is over, which should be in the next few chapters, sorry to say. Anyway you know the drill, press the little blue button and see you later.

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	35. Chapter 35

Welcome one and all to the thirty fifth chapter of Naruto the Chimera, I really never thought the story would get this big

Welcome one and all to the thirty fifth chapter of Naruto the Chimera; I really never thought the story would get this big. Just to note, this is the last chapter in the Sailor Moon arc, after this there is only the Hell takeover arc and that will be all he wrote so to speak. I do intend to throw in some epic combat in that bit, don't worry. There will be a few twists near the end as well, so don't expect anything overly predictable.

Oh and for those who were wondering and those that actually asked, yes the attack that Chimera used on the Starlights was indeed the signature attack of Overlord Laharl from Disgaea, note especially the bit about a 'good meal' and that should tell the story between the two.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter and review at the end, see you all in the ending note.

Oh, by the way, I have thought of another two story ideas to use for my next fic in addition to the one I previously mentioned in my last chapter, or was it the one before that? Anyway, personally, I cannot choose between the two so here's what I am going to do, I will put up descriptions of the two and let you guys choose on a poll in my profile. The descriptions will be put in the last chapter, the epilogue, of this story, and the poll will go up as soon as I post it. They are both Naruto fics and both have never been done before, well one hasn't. The other has been tried once before with arguable results. It may be abandoned since the dude hasn't updated in months. Both are dark/evil Naruto fics and they won't be full on crossovers like this one became, and I WILL NOT give any further information until the epilogue so don't ask okay? Honestly at this point I think this story deserves to be in the crossovers section, but I will not move it due to my immense laziness, unless I am required to by some site official or something like that. Anyway I will stop here before I get on a ramble, I just wanted to tell you guys what was what. The poll will only be up for one week after I post it by the way, due to the fact that I cannot keep myself away from writing for so long, so get your votes in fast so I can begin. Okay, notification over, let the story go on.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything else I use. Normally I would use some kind of insult to somebody at this point but I think that I have gotten my point across by now, if not, oh well.

By the way, there will be a bit of a time skip in the beginning of this chapter, just giving you guys a heads up. Oh word to the wise, you may want to have some epic music lined up for this chapter and the next few. Just some advice, you'll know when to play it.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Chimera began life in his weakened state. He murdered the Star lights, their princess, and the 'light of hope' they were looking for and began corrupting Usagi's soul. He threatened Haruka when she began to catch on to what he was doing and called him out on it. We left off when she left his apartment and went home, struggling not to shake in fear.

Let the chapter you have not been waiting long for begin!

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Chimera's apartment, 6 months after the contract was signed

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Chimera woke up and yawned. It was six months since the contract was signed and life was good. Most of his fragment's agents were killed by now. The only one he hadn't killed yet was Tin Nyanko, the one he gave the souls to. He could have killed her by now, but he didn't want to, not yet. When he did, his fragment would take the field, and he had sensed that there was something wrong about his fragment. It was a lot stronger than it should have been, enough to give him pause. There was something off about its power too; it didn't feel entirely like his own when it should have been almost identical. It was familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it, there was something he didn't understand here, and so he wanted to be as strong as possible before confronting it. He had a slight idea about what it could have been, and if that was the case he could not afford to go at it with less than half of his power.

He had actually sent an enhanced Kage Bunshin to keep up his appearances for the last three months while he meditated in an attempt to speed up his power's return. So far it was working. He was currently at sixty percent of his maximum when he should have been at fifty percent. The only times he actually went out in person anymore was to get the occasional meal, or to further corrupt that one girl, Usagi, he just had to do that in person. A Kage Bunshin memory was decent, but it couldn't compare to actually seeing her hope and faith shatter in person, but for everything else such as combating their weak foes, a Kage Bunshin was more than enough. Those little girls had no idea what they were getting into when they made that deal with him, no idea at all.

He still mainly focused on regaining what he had lost ahead of schedule. He wanted to be at least seventy five percent of his maximum when he faced his fragment. If there was more to it than it seemed, if what he thought was happening was happening than he needed to be as strong as possible. He knew there wasn't much time though, eventually Galaxia, who was still in control of her own body though his fragment affected her behavior drastically, would grow impatient with Tin Nyanko and her repeated failures, and after that it would not be long before she was dealt with. Once that happened, she would clash with the Senshi personally, and the contract issue would be dealt with. If they all died than the contract would let him keep all of their souls and since there was no one left on the other side of the agreement he would win by default the argument based on humanity's innocence. Since the period of armistice and the end of the argument were tied together, the contract would be null and void and he would be able to do whatever he wanted. He just hoped that all this meditation to regain his powers early was for no reason and that his fragment was what he originally thought it was and not what he thought it might be now. If he was right, than things could get very ugly very quickly and he had to be prepared.

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Rei's temple, after school

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All of the Senshi were having a meeting, the only ones weren't there were Usagi, who didn't know about it since it was about her, and Haruka who had been very distant for quite some time. They had all tried to find out what was wrong and the only one who could even get close to her was Michiru, but she hadn't told them anything, though she did say that Haruka promised to come. Artemis and Luna were also there.

Ami asked the person who had called the meeting "What is this meeting about Luna?" Said cat looked at her and said "It's Usagi, something is wrong with her, she isn't herself and she hasn't been for quite a while. I'm worried about this, I really am, she is our princess after all."

Makoto nodded and said "Yeah she hasn't been herself, she hasn't really wanted to do anything after school in a long time, and she doesn't seem quite as cheerful as she used to be. I don't know what caused all of it though."

Setsuna, always the bright one asked "About how long has this been going on, does anybody know an exact time, or a reasonable estimate? That may be important." Everybody stopped to think about that for a moment.

Minako slowly said "I think it's been about five months or so, right? Does anybody know anything significant that happened around then? It couldn't be Mamoru leaving, that happened about a month beforehand. Is it possible that she just misses him and it took a month to kick in?"

Rei shook her head and said "No, she said that it was okay, if it was that she wouldn't be like this. She would tell us at least instead of being a complete mystery. Grr, I can't think of anything that could have happened to cause this five months ago!"

Ami suddenly had an idea "Hey wasn't it about five months ago when that demon, Naruto, asked her out?"

Minako suddenly lit up and said "Yeah, that's right!" Then she darkened a bit and said "But he couldn't have done anything, his contract prevents him from harming us."

A voice from the doorway suddenly said "It IS him; he's the cause behind all of it." They all looked to where the voice originated from, and it was Haruka!

Minako looked at her and said "But it couldn't be him, our agreement…."

Haruka cut her off with a glare and then she said to everyone in the room "It is him. I realized that something was wrong and confronted him on it. He all but admitted to it, and then threatened me. I don't know what came over me, but for some reason I was so scared of him then and there." She suddenly cut off, looking like she was going to break down, Michiru went to comfort her while Makoto said "He couldn't do anything to you though, our agreement prevents it, he's harmless to us, and to anybody."

Haruka looked at the brunette through Michiru's arms and said "You're wrong; he told me just what he could do. He may not be able to kill us or hurt anyone close to any of us, but he could still harm us in other ways, subtler ways. I made a mistake that day, the same mistake we all made when we signed that contract. We made the mistake of assuming that he was dangerous because of his destructive power, the way all of our enemies have been, but we were wrong. He was weakened, but he was and is no less dangerous than he would be at his full power. He's not dangerous because of that, he could be substantially weaker than we are and still be the most deadly threat we have ever faced. He's not dangerous because of his power; he's dangerous because he is _him. _He is cruel, ruthless, manipulative, cunning, patient, cautious, and extremely deadly. We were all playing into his hands, and we always have been. Even us signing the contract was him manipulating us. This has all been a game for him, ever since the beginning. That contract was full of loopholes that he can exploit that we can't. Ever since we signed that contract we were doomed. Usagi probably knows that too. He is the one who did that to her, make no mistake. His way is the same as the serpent and the apple, giving with one hand while stealing what we hold dear with the other. We're all going to die because of him; it's all because of him, all of it. I couldn't have imagined something like this before now, never, never…." Her voice got softer and she slowly collapsed to the ground, Michaud steadying her. She laid her down, and checked to make sure she was okay.

She looked at everyone after a moment and said "She's okay, just sleeping. She's been through a lot it seems. I am going to take her home; she needs to be looked after. If you'll excuse me everyone, Setsuna, will you help me get her to the car?" Setsuna nodded and helped Michiru lift Haruka and take her outside, leaving just the Inners, the cats, and Hotaru left. They waited until they heard an engine start up and Setsuna came back before continuing the meeting.

There was an awkward silence for a minute or so before Artemis said "If she's right and Naruto is behind Usagi's situation, what are we going to do? We can't attack him, not without getting everyone killed. We can't do nothing, especially if he actually is behind it. This is really bad, I don't know what to do." He just closed his mouth and looked frustrated.

Ami said "Okay, let's focus on what Haruka said; it might give us a clue on how to stop him. She said that he couldn't kill us but he could harm us in subtler ways, that there were loopholes in the contract that we couldn't exploit that he could. What do you guys think she meant by that, something specific?"

They thought for a moment before Hotaru came up with the idea "Why don't we re-read the contract? That might help." They agreed and Rei ran up to her room to get her copy since none of the others had theirs. She returned with the sealed scroll of ancient parchment in her hand. She carefully broke the heavy wax seal and laid it out on the table. It was identical to the original held by the demon, scarlet red lettering in a calligraphic hand, and eleven scarlet signatures at the bottom, with one exception. The signature of Chiba Mamoru was black as death.

Makoto pointed it out "Hey, Mamoru's signature is black, what do you guys think that means?"

None of them had any idea, but all of them knew that it couldn't be anything good, they read the fine print, hoping to find what he could use against them, and what they could use against him.

They realized that while it looked good and straightforward when they signed it, it was full of possibilities that he could use against them.

Setsuna, after reading it through just shook her head and said "I can't believe that he somehow got us to sign this, it's so open-ended, and it's more restricting on us than him. It doesn't help that we are completely unaware of what he is capable of. Depending on what he can do, there are all sorts of things he could do that we can't do. He just can't attack us, but according to this, if you read it in the appropriate light, he could arrange our deaths, poison all the food in a market we use and say that he was using it to poison rats that were eating that market's stores when he put the rats there. He could start a fire in one of our yards and if it consumed the entire house than it would be counted as collateral damage. To convince him beyond any doubt that humanity is worth protecting would require a world-class lawyer with a mountain of evidence to begin to hope to win, and all the while all its says that he has to do is assist us against our enemies but it never says how much. At first glance it looks like its equal to both parties but if you read deep enough into it, everything is in his favor!"

The others finished reading it and Rei rolled it up again. They all realized that the green-haired woman was right.

After a moment of general despair Ami suddenly gasped.

Minako looked over and said "What is it Ami?"

Ami put one shuddering hand to the table and grasped it hard. She said "I just had a horrible thought. It says that he wouldn't attack humans right?"

They all nodded and she continued "Then technically he could attack and kill anyone or anything not human with impunity. Technically the Starlights weren't human. They looked the same, but they were from another planet, they couldn't have the same genetics and hereditary information that humans have. That would make them not human. The Starlights stopped appearing after Three Lights was bombed. I always thought that Three Lights and the Starlights looked similar. If you work off the assumption that Three Lights were really the Starlight Senshi, than couldn't he have been the one that killed them with that explosion that was in the papers?"

All of them thought about it for a moment and realized that while it wasn't concrete, Ami could be right.

Luna said "You could be right Ami and if you are, than we have at least some idea of what he is capable of. They said it was a horrible explosion. I actually went over there to check it out once and the entire penthouse was decimated. There was little more than ash inside and the roof and most of the walls were a mound of rubble on the ground level. It was a big explosion for it to do that much damage and that was barely a week after Naruto showed up. After six months of recovery, he would be a lot stronger by now. I am starting to realize just how something as bad as Chaos could have been a mere fragment, a part of something far greater. I haven't seen that kind of destructive power since the destruction of the Moon Kingdom."

They all sat there for a moment, trying to think of a way out of the very bad situation they were in. Eventually Hotaru gave up on a victory with the contract and took it to a military venue. She just looked up and said "There's only one way to get out of this. This whole contract thing was a trap, we can't win by using it. We have only one chance to walk away from this alive."

Minako looked over and said "What's that Hotaru?"

Hotaru looked at the normally cheerful blonde and said with utter conviction in her purple eyes "We have to destroy him."

This was met with a negative reaction by the others present.

She looked at them all and said "Why couldn't we do it, we have no chance in winning a legal battle over a devil's contract. The only option left is to destroy him; he can't take our souls if he doesn't exist!"

Makoto looked at the young girl and said "That's true but 'can we do it' is the problem. He is way too strong for us to beat, we don't have a chance against him. I would love to beat his face in, but only if we can manage it. The moment we attack him, the agreement is broken and he kills us all."

Hotaru looked at her and nodded. She said "You're right Makoto, in a fair fight we couldn't hope to win, so we don't give him a fair fight, he wouldn't give us one. Here's what I suggest: We get him to come with us when we finally face Galaxia and let him fight her. Since we know that he'll win, we wait until he does and the moment he does, when he is weakened from the fight, we all blast him at once. We take down two birds with one stone, what do you guys think?"

They were all wide-eyed and surprised that such a little girl could think of something that devious. Setsuna closed her eyes for a second and said "That might work, but it's going to be really dangerous. If we don't take him down in one attack, he'll be free to kill us all. Are you sure that we have the strength to do so?"

Hotaru looked at the older woman and said "I'm not sure, but it's our only chance at victory in this entire situation. If worst comes to worst and it doesn't work, than I will use my power of death, and destroy him along with myself, I will be re-born but he will not be. This is our only chance, do you all agree?"

At first they all wanted nothing to do with something so deceitful, but they thought about it for a moment and realized that they couldn't win through the contract's terms and that they couldn't win in a fair fight. If they were going to survive, they would have to go along with Hotaru's plan, no matter how under-handed it was. They agreed but they also agreed that they couldn't tell Usagi about it. If the demon really had gotten to her, telling her about it would be a horrible mistake. They all left the temple and went home to think about it all and let it sink in. Hotaru went with Setsuna to see if Haruka was alright and tell Michiru about the plan.

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Galaxy TV, three days later

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The day for the final battle had come Chimera and the Senshi stood before the Galaxy TV building, knowing that Galaxia was inside. Hours ago, they had fought against Tin Nyanko and when Chimera showed up and defeated her, Galaxia appeared in hologram and removed Nyanko's bracelets. The bracelets were laden with Galaxia's energy and allowed a person to live without their Star Seed, without their soul. With the bracelets gone, Tin Nyanko faded from existence. After that Galaxia invited them to the Galaxy TV building where according to her, she would be waiting.

All ten of them were there, Chimera in his real form with about sixty five percent of his full power and all nine of the Senshi. They walked toward the building and after they got close enough a powerful barrier went up behind them, barring them in though Chimera could probably break through it. A single pigeon flew straight into the barrier, not realizing it was there and was electrocuted. When it fell to the ground below it resembled nothing more than crispy barbecue. Chimera looked at it and said "Hn, good riddance, fucking rats with wings. Okay, let's go." He walked into the building, the Senshi behind him. The door slammed shut behind them. Most of the Senshi turned and prepared to fight, though Setsuna, Hotaru, and Chimera paid it no mind.

Eventually they reached an open elevator with two boards arranged in an X-shape blocking it. Chimera reached forward and tapped the boards in the center of the X and they shattered. He stood aside from the doorway, and bowed his head. He simply said "Ladies first." They strode into an alternate dimension. There was nothing but an amalgam of colors swirling in all directions. The floor was made of glass so clear it was almost invisible; the same went for Galaxia's throne. The woman herself sat in it, haughty and arrogant, an enormous collection of Star Seeds, of souls, floated in the ether behind her.

Usagi looked behind them and saw a rectangular doorway that opened into the hallway they were in before. The only problem was that Chimera wasn't there!" She turned around and immediately said "Where's Chimera!?" All the Senshi looked around and saw nothing as the doorway closed and they were locked in an alternate dimension with their enemy facing them.

Galaxia stood, well sat, before them. Even from across the room they could feel her power, it was immense. It was hardly a match for Chimera's but by their standards it was overwhelming. They didn't miss a beat, every last one of them unloaded their most powerful attacks, but they were all deflected by an invisible shield. She looked at them and said "Why do you bother with this pointless exercise? Your powers, even combined, are nowhere near a match for mine. Simply give up your Star Seeds to me and end your own suffering. They would be added to my collection, and the entire galaxy would be mine."

They looked up at the massive amount of Seeds floating near her and five in particular stood out. The first was one that blazed with light greater than any of the others. They had no idea who it could have belonged to but that person must have been powerful. The next three were near identical in color and seemed to resonate with each other. Ami said "Those three, are those the Star Seeds of the Starlights?"

Galaxia looked at her in amusement and said "You have a good eye. Yes, those are indeed the Seeds of those idiot Starlight Senshi. It was one of Tin Nyanko's greatest achievements. She obtained them from some source, I do not know who or what, I will find him eventually, the one who gave those three Seeds to her, he must have a powerful Star Seed indeed, whoever it is."

The Senshi who attended the meeting had a very good idea on who that mysterious source was, and they all knew that this was the concrete proof that Chimera, Naruto had betrayed them all from the very beginning.

Usagi was the one who pointed out the last one though, a Star Seed of magnificent gold. That Seed, it couldn't be, I-it couldn't be…."

Galaxia looked at it for a second and looked back to her and said "You must have a very good eye to pick out the golden Star Seed. It was a man; I remember that, he was the one who held the Star Seed for this planet."

Usagi heard that and immediately knew why that one Seed seemed so familiar. That combined with the depression brought upon her by Chimera's 'lessons' in the dark side of humanity, the holocaust, corrupt governments, and many other horrible deeds, they all caused her to break down in tears.

She fell to her knees sobbing "Mamo-chan, Mamo-chan is dead, Mamo-chan…."

Galaxia smirked at her and raised her arm, delivering a blast of black lightning toward the stricken girl. She didn't move, and the Inners got in the way of the blast, being blown back by its power. Galaxia raised her arms and four blasts of light sprung from the bracelets on her wrists, piercing the four Inner Senshi and releasing their Seeds which floated into Galaxia's hand, and from there into the void beyond her. That left the stricken Usagi and the Outers to fight Galaxia. They rushed her but were blown back.

She spoke to them "It doesn't really have to be this way you know."

Haruka looked at the armored woman and said "What do you mean? There is an alternative?"

Galaxia nodded and two bracelets appeared in her hands, she said to them "You could work for me, give me your Star Seed willingly, and receive my power. With these bracelets you could live on without your Star Seed."

Setsuna immediately said to her "Like any of us would-" "That sounds interesting."

She stopped in shock and looked at the source of the voice, the grinning Haruka.

She stood and said "If I wear those bracelets, I won't die right?" Galaxia nodded.

Haruka looked at Michiru and said "I would sell my soul to the devil, if I could be together with you." Michiru rose and stood beside Haruka "You're right, as long as we have each other everything will be all right." She looked toward Galaxia and said "We accept your offer." Galaxia smirked and Hotaru and Setsuna looked on in shock as they stepped forward and Galaxia removed their Star Seeds and gave them the bracelets. The two stood and Haruka said "This is Galaxia's power? It's a lot more than I thought it would be." Michiru only nodded.

Galaxia said to them "Sailor Uranus! Sailor Neptune! Your first orders are to bring me the Star Seeds of your companions!" The pair nodded and immediately used the power the bracelets gave them, removing the Star Seeds of Setsuna and Hotaru. Galaxia took them and said "Very nice, but there is one more." They both nodded and approached Usagi, but at the last moment they turned and used the bracelets power upon Galaxia! The woman slumped upon her throne, but after a moment got up when no Star Seed appeared.

She looked at them and said "You fools, my Star Seed is already taken! Who do you think that extremely bright Seed belongs to hmm?" She snapped her fingers and the bracelets upon the two vanished. The two collapsed, both in immense pain. Michiru vanished first, but before Haruka vanished and died, Chimera appeared before her, the Genjutsu supplying his invisibility vanishing. He said to the woman "It is as I said Tenoh Haruka, you would die by your own hand, and no one else's. I don't know why you said you would sell your soul to the devil though, you already did." Haruka looked on in shock and fear before vanishing. Leaving only the distraught Usagi, Galaxia, and Chimera in the room.

Galaxia looked at him in surprise, she had no idea he was there. She said to him "Who are you?"

Chimera looked at her and just said "No one that's going to be of any consequence for you in a few seconds." He vanished and appeared in front of Galaxia, backhanding her out of her throne. When she was about a hundred feet away he sent out a blade of wind and cut her in half, length-wise.

He shrugged and said "That takes care of her, though my fragment will leave her body, mad as a hornet in a few minutes. In the meantime however…."

He went to the edge of the abyss and took a scroll from his pouch. It was a sealing scroll. He snapped his fingers as he unrolled it and the glass surrounding each soul shattered before it was sucked into the scroll. Before they were sucked into the scroll however Chimera picked own nine specific souls, the souls of the Inner and Outer Senshi, along with that of Mamoru. He rolled up the scroll and put it in his pocket. That would be more than enough, far more than enough to wind the political battle in Hell. This trip had just paid off. He turned to the distraught Usagi, souls in hand.

He walked closer to her and snapped his fingers twice to get her attention. "Well, that went well, don't you think?" She looked at him in shock for a moment before that shock turned to anger "Where were you!? You didn't help at all, you broke our agreement!"

He smirked and said "I did no such thing, I helped, why do think Galaxia is cut in two, eh? Admittedly my fragment is going to extricate himself from that body and come over here with blood in his eyes within the next few minutes, but I did help you guys. When I signed the contract, no one specified how soon I had to help or in what capacity. You should be thankful that I didn't go with my first instinct and limit myself to moral support. You really should be grateful. It never said I couldn't watch you all die before assisting either. That was actually the only reason I acted when I did, if she killed you before I stepped in than I would have been breaking my agreement by not helping but now I am in the clear and I have all those souls joining my collection today, including these nine." He held up the souls of the nine she had come to treasure the most.

She stared at the nine spheres of light before quietly saying "Let them go."

He openly laughed "Why one earth would I do that? They died before the year was up their souls are mine by right and the contract's written word. Those other souls were unclaimed as their owner laid, err floated, dead and so I was so helpful as to pick them up and keep them in good shape in the name of the deceased rightful owner. Forget it girly, I have won here, as it was going to happen from the beginning. You never had a chance. Don't worry; you will be joining them eventually. I'll even be kind and put you and Mamoru in adjacent boxes, able to see him but not hear, feel, or touch. Isn't that kind of me?"

She looked up at him and rose from the ground "GIVE THEM BACK!"

He looked at her and said "And what are you going to do if I do not? They are mine; there is nothing you can do to stop that, not now."

She pulled her staff from the ground and blasted him with everything she had. He stood there unfazed, a shit-eating grin upon his features.

He just said two words "I win." And with that, he was elbow deep in Usagi's chest cavity. She coughed up blood upon his forearm, whispered 'Mamo-chan' and died. Before she died though, somehow the contact with her heart, with her soul, allowed her a swift glimpse into Chimera's mind. Not his memories, but his thoughts, his plans, his personality, she saw the true demon that he was and her thoughts before she died as she fell to the cold, colorless ground were this.

'_Now I understand. He is the darkness. The void whose malice and hunger is so great that it cannot help but destroy all it comes into contact with, devouring all that he desires. Until the world becomes an endless Hell, a world that no one could escape his horror, a world of absolute darkness. _

Chimera watched as the lifeblood flowed from her lips and from her chest and he put his hand above her body and her soul formed there. He added it to the others in his left hand and looked at the ten of them, a smirk tugging at his lips. All of that waiting was worth it, just to see their terror as they died their shock upon learning how things really work. He figured that since they gave him such immense pleasure in their despair that he owed them something in return though. He strode to one side of the platform, keeping an eye upon Galaxia's body, from which a dark mist was beginning to boil from the wounds and created a spherical shield that would protect anything inside from most attacks and put the ten souls inside. He made one quick handseal and the souls flashed. Before him the ten who signed his contract floated in the sphere in their civilian clothing.

He smirked and said "Congratulations you are all dead, your prize is an all expense paid, one way trip to Hell where you will be experiencing lovely sights such as Chimera's mansion, Chimera's soul vault, Chimera's laundry room and other tourist favorites. Don't you feel proud?"

They just glared at him. He pretended to look hurt and said "Oh come now, don't be like that. This was bound to happen at some point, but don't worry it isn't your fault. You were born mortal, born weak, easily killed and easily taken, you shouldn't be ashamed, it's the natural order of things. I have even decided, since you were horribly fun to screw around with for the last six months or so, to give you all a consolation prize!"

Ami looked up at him and dejectedly said "Consolation prize?"

He nodded and said "Indeed, dear Ami, a consolation prize! I shall, out of the pure grace of my black heart, allow you to bear witness to true power! True combat! I shall allow you to witness the battle between myself and my fragment, which should be showing up any minute now. Don't look so sad! You agreed to this after all you know. If you had any complaints you probably should have voiced them before you signed the contract. Chin up, you finally get to see what a real fight is like, especially if it turns out to be more than it appears to be, which I think it is. Oh, there it is now!" He pointed up at Galaxia's body as a black mist radiating great power sprung from the body's wounds and coalesced on the ground, rising up into a black pillar that undulated randomly.

He looked at the ten in the sphere and said "Look, you lost, so just enjoy the show, okay? Now then, LET'S GET IT ON!" He turned to the pillar and approached it slightly warily. The thing was a lot more powerful than it should have been. It was almost as strong as he was then, maybe even equal to him in power. He took a moment to examine it. From this distance there was no doubt about it, there was something more to this and now he knew exactly what it was.

He just called out to the pillar "KYUUBI!"

The pillar suddenly stopped moving, and then a tendril of deep red appeared among the black, expanding until the pillar shone with a bloody light and the pillar shrank into a human form, the human form of the Kyuubi. Chimera looked at him and said "How the fuck did you get here, didn't I kill you?"

The muscled and tailed humanoid looked at him with utmost loathing and said "You killed that pathetic bug who dared to look like me kit, the one you killed was the false one, I am the real Kyuubi, THE ONE YOU BETRAYED!" He lunged forward and attempted to claw out the demon's throat with his claws. Chimera landed on his back and got his legs underneath him, pushing him away and cutting into him with a blade of wind. He lunged forward and slugged him right in the jaw, sending him flying back. His eyes were wide with surprise and shock and he asked "How? I sealed you, into the urn, and into the Statue. You were not a part of me when I first came to this world.

Kyuubi got up and glared at the blonde, his eyes filled with searing hatred and utmost loathing he just said "You thought you could betray me without me knowing about it beforehand? I knew what you would do kit, I was in your stomach for fifty thousand years. I made a copy of my mind and THAT is what you ripped from yourself so long ago. Ever since then I have been waiting in the back of your mind for my chance to overpower you and destroy you, but I was powerless, simply a consciousness with hardly anything left other then my ability to think. I was patient and eventually my time came, you attempted to enter a world but you could not enter, I took control of your arm, just for a moment and moved it forward, concentrating all of my being into the one sliver of flesh that was removed by the shield and entered this world. I knew that you would be back, one day, and I was prepared. I steadily regained my strength, my power, looking forward to the day you would return, looking forward to when I could finally DESTROY YOU!" He plunged his hands into the ground and the landscape changed. What was once an endless void was now a wide, barren plain. He looked at Chimera with all of his hatred and said "And now that time has come, THE TIME FOR MY REVENGE!" He plunged his hands into the ground, shattering it beneath him, Chimera saw the ground beneath him crack and jumped away as large hands and arms made purely of scarlet chakra flowing with his own dark power rose from the ground. He created explosives and hurled them at the hands, but to no avail, he moved from place to place at lightning speed, dodging the fiery hands by no more than a few inches each time.

He made a few quick hands and yelled "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!" before he exhaled a massive amount of water, enough to cause a flood on that plain. The Senshi watched in absolute awe as he rode a massive tidal wave, sword emitting black light and crashed into the Kyuubi. Kyuubi watched as the water swirled around him before using his chakra to evaporate it. He opened his mouth and a massive stream of blue flames roared from his mouth, engulfing the younger demon.

Chimera strode out of the flames, his robe burned away, his skin nonexistent, and there was nothing but scorched muscle adorning his blackened bones. Before the eyes of everyone there the skin re-grew in a few moments and the muscles knitted back together, he lunged forward with his sword that radiated death and sliced Kyuubi across the chest as he jumped back to avoid being sliced in half. Kyuubi's wound healed and his claws glittered as he slashed them in a sideways movement and five glittering blades of chakra rushed toward his sworn enemy. Chimera jumped between the blades, avoiding them, but was sliced into pieces by the vertical set that followed immediately afterwards. Kyuubi smirked until the pieces flashed towards him through the air, losing visible shape and surrounding his arm in a blob of flesh that changed shape into Chimera holding his arm at the breaking point, his sword abandoned in the change and then he pushed Kyuubi's arm past that point and it broke with a highly audible snap. He punched Kyuubi in the face as hard as he could and he would have went flying if Chimera hadn't held onto his arm with tore form its socket with a horrible ripping sound. Chimera clutched the bleeding limb and poured fire chakra into it, incinerating the limb and faced the crater Kyuubi made in the earth.

Kyuubi jumped from the hole and with his one arm rained blades of chakra upon his traitorous pupil as his other arm regenerated itself. Chimera danced between the blades and returned fire with blasts of concentrated Hellfire. Kyuubi used his tails to orient himself as he fell from the sky, landing on his feet and fired quick short blasts of energy from the tip of each tail roaring toward him, the result being the equivalent of a gatling gun with an infinite supply of bullets.

Kyuubi kept of the stream of projectiles until a host of living explosives from the ground around him and detonated simultaneously, leaving him horrible injured. Chimera strode up to him, missing an arm, and having several dozen holes burned straight through all sections of his body, but he ignored the massive, mind crushing pain from the wounds and formed a Suiton Rasenshuriken in his remaining hand. He ground the blue sphere into the stunned beast's head and watched as the water eroded away his flesh. Water was powerful against him since the Kyuubi was a being of fire. He rained a serious of powerful punches into what remained of the beastly humanoid demon, each blow cracking the earth around them. He picked up the Kyuubi with his one arm and opened his mouth. A blast of Hellfire incinerated the body of he monstrous demon. He re-grew his arm in a few moments of concentration and searched for anything remaining of the beast. He suddenly felt a horrible pressure as a badly injured Kyuubi gripped his neck after releasing the illusion. He snapped the neck of the demon he once thought of as his own son, only for the body to vanish in smoke. The real demon came from the ground, slamming a Suiton Rasenshuriken into the demon's maimed torso. Kyuubi let out a demonic scream as the water destroyed his flesh. Chimera wasted no time. He took the head of the demon, which was the only part remaining, and he threw it into the air. Even then those eyes gleamed with life and malice, Chimera opened his third eye, the eye of Uchiha Madara and yelled out "AMATERASU!" as the black flames that would incinerate anything, even a being of fire coalesced upon and utterly destroyed the Kyuubi, once and for all.

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That is the chapter; I hope you guys enjoyed it, especially the fight scene. I decided to do that because I realized that I could have done the other Kyuubi fight scene better I made demons fight like humans and that just isn't right, so I used this opportunity to make good on that. Well, that is the last world done; there are only one or two chapter left and then the epilogue. See you guys later! By the way, this is the longest chapter I have EVER written, that and with this the fic is over 150,000 words! Hurray for me!

Until the next update,

Artful Lounger


	36. Chapter 36

Welcome one and all to Naruto the Chimera, chapter thirty six

Welcome one and all to Naruto the Chimera, chapter thirty six. I really don't have much to say at this point, so I jump right into the chapter, enjoy!

Oh and I thought of a fourth story idea for my next story. Damn it I don't know what's going on! The plot bunny in my head has smelled the near-death of a fic and is churning out ideas like crazy; it's going into freakin' overdrive!

Disclaimer: Aww, screw it already, how many of these have I put up already? If you need to see it again look through the first thirty five chapters, I'm done with this crap.

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Summary of the last chapter

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Chimera tricked and bested the Senshi, forcing Usagi to break the contract by attacking him. He has all the souls that Galaxia had collected. He destroyed the Kyuubi that was sealed into his stomach by his father which had been hiding in this world and waiting for his return to wreak revenge. We left off when Chimera incinerated the Kyuubi with Amaterasu, completely destroying him.

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Galaxia's Throne

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Chimera closed his eyes, all three of them, and sat down right there on the ground as the landscape changed back into the void that it was beforehand. He got up, and pulled out a flask, opened it, and took a drink of the alcohol inside then let out a deep sigh. He returned flask to belt pouch and turned to the spherical shield where he left the souls of those that attempted to best him at his own game.

The lot of them were in absolute shock, pure and simple. They had no idea what just happened. The fight they had just seen, it wasn't a fight between humans, it was nothing more than a fight between complete monsters. That and the monster that won the fight was coming towards them. He approached, shirtless, black sword in hand and appraised them with one red eye and one blue, one by one.

He just said "Now THAT, boys and girls, is what you call a 'fight'. That bullshit you were doing doesn't even compare, you see? A complete battle to the death, doing your utmost to destroy the other, there are no emotions into it except the rage, pain, and fury that you harness to utterly annihilate the opponent. No redemption, no mercy, no regret, no stopping until one is dead and the other is not. Look on the bright side, if you had fought him without me here, you would be dead anyway. It's just like I told Usagi, destiny and fate are pieces of total bullshit. Now then, I am currently on a massive adrenaline rush, so since our contract was broken by Usagi I have free reign. I think I will go destroy the city and kill everyone in it. See you in a few hours." He walked through the door that appeared once the Kyuubi died, he voices of the Senshi yelling to him to stop going in his ears, causing him to smile and start whistling at the slaughter to come.

He stepped out of the building and evaluated what was left of the town. Something beat him to it! The town was pretty much decimated already. Must have been the energies released during their fight. Probably caused an earthquake big enough to do this much damage. He shook his head 'Oh well.' He reasoned 'There are still plenty of survivors to take care of, just fewer buildings to tear through'. He strode forward into the chaos, beheading humans left and right. Black flames rained from the skies that day, and the rest of the world knew it as the Juuban massacre. No one knew what caused it, or what happened, only that there were no survivors.

He returned to the Senshi a few hours later, after washing away all the blood that had accumulated from the carnage. He looked at them all and smiled. He just said "Ah, I haven't done that much damage since I destroyed my own home town, it brought back so many memories. Murdering husbands in front of wives, wives in front of husbands, children in front of parents, parents in front of children before turning on my captive audience. That was the best day of my life, without a doubt!"

The ten of them were horrified. How could anyone do something that horrible and actually enjoy it? Was their main line of thought.

Haruka went off at him "HOW COULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? THEY WERE INNOCENT YOU MONSTER!"

He laughed in the woman's face and said "No human is innocent, that is a fact that no one can possibly refute. Now then, what am I going to do with you ten?" He looked at them carefully for a moment, thinking of what he knew of them and where they would be best be stationed. Eventually he came to a decision. He pointed at Haruka and Michiru. "You two are going in the vault since I neither like nor trust you. You betrayed your friends and then your new boss in like five seconds. Not trustworthy at all." He pointed at Usagi and Mamoru "I do not like you, you are too much of a crybaby and you are a man, I do not employ male humans. Male demons, yes to be warriors and enforcers, female humans and demons, yes, but not male humans. Both of you are going in the vault. The cages in there are boxes of unbreakable glass so I think I will put you in adjacent boxes since you are in love, same goes for the lesbians. Yes, that seems fitting, able to see the one you love, but unable to hear or touch them. Knowing that you are so close yet so far apart from the one you love for all eternity, absolute torture only increased by love! It's perfect!"

By this time, the four of them were almost in tears. Michiru managed to stammer out as Haruka hugged her "How could you be so cruel? Of course you don't know what sort of pain you are causing; you have never been in love."

He laughed at that "Why do you assume that none of your enemies have ever felt love? Honestly, Queen Beryl was banished by Queen Serenity originally because she was in love with the man that Serenity wanted for herself so she was banished by the then princess Serenity out of jealousy and became the then prince's rebound girl. That was how Usagi's parents originally met and what caused the end of your Silver Millennium years later! As for me I have been in love before too you know!" They looked at him completely shocked.

He looked at his sword and said "Yes, dear Mukuro, she never had anything resembling good looks; in fact most would have considered her absolutely hideous but to me that didn't matter a bit. I don't know what it was that drew me to her, maybe it was her immense power or her immense hatred of living things, her malice and lack of mercy on the battle field, I am not really sure which of her traits drew me in most. Alas, she turned me down and in my rage I sealed her into this sword and it received her ability to slice through dimensions, I even named it after her. I never really was one to take rejection well, I suppose." They were surprised once again at the demon that they knew to be all the evil they had ever encountered.

He took a deep breath and said "Oh well, that's all in the past, here I am prattling on like an old woman. Anyway…." He pointed to Makoto "Since you are a good cook, I will make you an assistant chef in my kitchen." He pointed to Minako "Since you can sing rather well, I will make you my entertainment, it will be courteous of me to provide my guests with music as they eat, or just listen to you myself which will be the case more often then not." Once again they were thrown for a loop by the demon, those jobs were actually pretty good since now Makoto and Minako were actually looking forward to their jobs. "The rest of you… eh I'll think of something, or someone else will. Either way, we had better be going." He took his sword and sliced into the fabric of their world, shattering the shield from the inside which was weakened by a lack of a power source. He pushed the bubble into the void and stepped into it himself.

They arrived at Chimera's palace which was highly impressive. Red stone walls, marble pillars veined with gold, granite staircases veined with silver, doors and tables of sandalwood, silver door knobs, and porcelain plates and actual silver silverware, obsidian gargoyles placed in regular alcoves it was very high class. The four going into the vault disappeared in flashes of light, revealing them to be nothing but small spheres of light that Chimera took into hand and vanished with. He placed them into glass boxes with golden outlines, sealing the boxes once the doors were closed. He made sure that Haruka and Michiru's boxes were adjacent, as were Usagi's and Mamoru's. The rest of the souls were released from the scroll and were also places in boxes, but he had to increase the size of the room by a lot to accomadate them all. It was a good thing that he could both create such unbreakable cases with a thought and also make rooms in his house larger inside than they were outside. Though his palace had four floors and the floors were one hundred sixty by one hundred eighty feet each, plus a basement of the same proportions, it actually encompassed almost twice as much space. He never told any other demons how he did it either. He returned to the six remaining captives. He had some time to kill, why not give a tour?

He showed them each floor, one by one. The basement which was basically where all the stored food was. The first floor, which consisted of foyer, dining room, servant's quarters which were actually quite nice, if plain. The servants were a combination of pretty, young human females, and Nekomatas, cat demons that were basically humanoid. After they changed into the uniforms since they had no choice he also showed them the kitchen which Makoto was delighted to see was enormous. There were about a dozen stoves and there was every kind of meat and vegetable she had ever seen, and several she had never seen before. She pointed out one such meat in particular and asked what it was. Chimera smirked as he just replied 'human'. After that she went white and very quiet. Chimera smiled and said "Now, now dear Makoto-chan, don't be squeamish, you'll be preparing that one quite often as it is one of my favorite dishes. You won't have to be working alone though since you'll be the assistant chef to the one that has been working alone all this time." Makoto went even whiter when she heard his preferences of taste and as soon as he mentioned the head chef, a large, fat man wearing a sleeveless white undershirt, blue jeans and an apron with a normal chef's hat walked in. He was also carrying a large meat cleaver.

The chef looked at the lot of them and addressed Chimera. "Master Chimera, who is this?" He looked at the head chef and said "Ah, Faquarl, good we were just talking about you." He shoved Makoto forward "This is your new assistant that signed one of my contracts, meet Makoto, Makoto meet Faquarl." She nodded and said "Hello, sir"

Faquarl nodded and said "Another thing master, can I show them my real form, just to scare them?" Chimera looked at him and said "Definitely not Faquarl, you know I prefer you in your human form." Faquarl looked at the pale demon and said "Is it possible that you are uneasy with my true form master?"

He just said "Queasy Faquarl, not uneasy, come on you six." Then he left the kitchen. They could hear Faquarl call "I expect you here at six thirty AM sharp Makoto!"

He said to the girls as he showed them the stairway to the second floor "Be careful of him, Faquarl is a dangerous one, though an excellent cook. Though when it comes to his real form, ugh, when if comes to real forms I am no great looker myself you understand but Faquarl just has way too many tentacles for my liking."

He showed them the second floor, which was mostly guest quarters which were much nicer than the servant's quarters, and was also the location of the head of staff which was a smarmy looking butler which they just knew was a demon in human form that went by the name of Socrates.

Then he showed them the third floor which was a large library mostly. In it were massive books on all sorts of history of various worlds, fighting techniques, bestiaries of strange animals and beasts, books of extremely complex mathematical theorems, and scrolls containing ninjutsu and genjutsu, all sorts of things. Ami nearly had an orgasm looking at the massive room. Then looked crushed when he said that servants were forbidden to read the books in there. Then he showed them the fourth floor. The fourth floor was his quarters, the soul vault and one other room. It was a large iron door that was freezing to the touch and was embossed with a large snowflake. He said that that room was where he kept two very special souls for immense torture, people that he hated personally more than anyone else. If he felt like he could, he told them that the Kyuubi that they saw him destroy would have been in that room too. Then he said that only one servant was allowed into his room at any time to clean and that all others were forbidden to enter the fourth floor at all. Then he produced a whip from nowhere, snapped it at them and yelled "NOW REPORT FOR DUTY AT THE SERVANT'S QUARTERS!!" They all ran off down the stairs. Then he went into his room, to his office and went to work. He had to prepare for his takeover. He would have done so too had a warrior of his not appeared in his office.

He looked over and said "What is it, I have work to do."

The demon was a bestial one, a large, blue-skinned muscular body, with arms and legs bulging with muscle. He had a scaly tail protruding from his tail bone and three bright red eyes. He said in a deep voice "My lord, something horrible has happened, Hell is on fire!"

Chimera shook his head and said "Of course it is on fire, it's Hell is it not?"

The demon just said "No my lord, the buildings have caught and are burning down."

Chimera smirked "What did Grimlet have one of his wild parties again? Such a shame I wasn't here, I probably would have gotten an invitation."

"My lord, everything is being destroyed."

"Okay, one hell of a party, is it Satan's birthday? That's the biggest bash we have down here." He was smirking as he said this, toying with the demon but he wasn't smart enough to get it.

"My lord, Grimlet is dead! As is Mephistopheles, Valvoga, and the clone you left behind! There has been a massive coup and everything that has not sworn loyalty has been or will be destroyed!"

Chimera's face went from amusement to shock "S-somebody killed the other three Archdukes? Those three were almost as strong as I am. Who was it, who did all of this? Damn it this changes FUCKING EVERYTHING! ALL OF MY WORK FOR THE PAST FIFTY FUCKING THOUSAND YEARS MADE POINTLESS BY SOME FUCKING UPSTART! WHO DID IT, I WILL RIP OFF HIS FUCKING HEAD AND SHOVE IT DOWN HIS NECK SO FAR HE'LL SHIT IT OUT THE NEXT MORNING!!"

The demon cowered in fright "He had never seen his master so angry before he just whimpered out two words. Two words that made even Chimera's blood run cold. The two words were 'Tyrant Baal.'

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And that is the chapter, sorry it is so short, but it is mainly filler. A prologue to the last chapter before the epilogue. A cookie goes to anyone who knows who Baal is and where he is from and until the next chapter, the last chapter before the epilogue, I bid you adieu.

Until the next chapter,

Artful Lounger


	37. Chapter 37

(Cue spotlight on a microphone) Ladies and gentlemen, creatures, aliens, demons, people from the future, whoever may be readin

(Cue spotlight on a microphone) Ladies and gentlemen, creatures, aliens, demons, people from the future, whoever may be reading this now, I welcome you without prejudice to Naruto the Chimera, chapter thirty seven, the epic last chapter of this epic story. Aside from the epilogue, of course but I never really think of the epilogue as a chapter. I thank you loyal readers for reading this massive as fuck document that has come out of the recesses of my mind. I can only say that may you enjoy this final chapter, and this final battle between evil, and whoever Naruto is currently against. I shall see you all in the ending note.

Oh and for anyone who was wondering, yes the Mukuro I mentioned last chapter was indeed the same Mukuro from Yu Yu Hakusho. And as for Baal, technically you guys are all right. He makes major appearances in Disgaea, Stargate, the Bible, all sorts of stuff, but I am going on the Disgaea version mainly.

Note: Naruto chapter 405 was a fucking joke. It was pretty much Naruto being emo about Jiraiya's death and wishing that Jiraiya had been Godaime instead of Tsunade so that she wouldn't have sent him after Pein. Then Iruka said that he was the 'Awesome apprentice of one of the Sannin' despite the fact that as a ninja he is pretty pathetic despite how powerful he should have been after training with Jiraiya. Oh and Tsunade got to work on breaking the code Jiraiya burned into the old toad's back. I wonder if those numbers will leave scars. On an unrelated note the Inuyasha manga has been completed. THE SERIES IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE SERIES!

Let the final chapter (not counting epilogue) begin! Have some epic music ready!

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Summary of the last chapter

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Chimera reigned supreme in the world of the senshi, forcing them all into slavery. He returned to Hell, and everything looked like it was going to be fine and his plans would come to fruition until a demonic warrior informed him that Hell was taken over, the other three Archdukes killed. The perpetrator of these acts? Of the ruining of Chimera's 50,000 years plus of work? A mysterious demon whose name flooded Chimera with fear, a demon by the name of Baal. Who is this mysterious demon and what does Chimera know of him? Read on and find out.

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Hell, Chimera's office

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Chimera just sat down, there in his office chair, complete and utter shock evident on his features. He just whispered "Baal? THE Baal?" The demon before him just nodded. The shock turned to anger and suppressed fear. "The legendary demon that served as Satan's second in command and personal advisor during the fall? The demon that tempted Lucifer himself and the angels that followed him to renounce God and rebel against Him? The same Baal that fought God himself until the battle ended in a draw just to escape being trapped in Hell like Satan when his rebellion failed? The most powerful demon in history that has not appeared in uncounted eons?" The demon just nodded again and Chimera sat down again. "I did not even think he existed. I had heard the legends, the stories of Baal the legendary Tyrant, but I thought they were just that, legends. I mean COME ON, WHO IS READY FOR A FUCKING LEGEND TO COME REAL AND FUCK EVERYTHING UP!, THIS IS SO UNFUCKING FAIR IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY! DAMN IT AAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!"

As Chimera vented his immense rage as this unforeseen development, his chakra flared and surrounded him in a maelstrom; it was so great that the foundation of the entire palace shook with his anger. The demon that had given him the message was incinerated in it. Chimera entered his bedroom, which was large and luxurious. It included a King size four poster bed with silk sheets. He went through several handseals as he entered the room and when the complicated chain was complete, a complex seal appeared on one of the walls. He swiped blood from his bitten finger across the seal muttering 'Okay Baal, come out of the legends and ruin all my work, you will learn to stay in the legends where you belong. Fifty fucking thousand years of work down the drain, this is utter bullshit.' As the blood touched the complex marking, the ink vanished and a door took its place. Chimera opened this door and stepped into his own personal armory.

This was Chimera's backup plan should something go immensely wrong and he found himself under attack by one or more of the Archdukes when he wasn't expecting it. Weapons of every kind hung from the walls, all fitted to his demonic form. They looked medieval but they were made of more powerful materials. Swords with blades of condensed fire, axes with blades of frozen moonlight, spears of gravity condensed titanium, bows strung with the muscle fibers of dragons, arrows of fused shadows, and the list goes on. He pushed past all of them however, going straight for his battle armor, tearing off his robe and shifting into his full demonic form as he went.

The armor was heavy and impressive. Heavy greaves and bracers guarded by spikes, boots of segmented metal, the breastplate was thick and strong and the helmet was modified to accommodate his thee eyes and his horns. The lower armor was complete with armor for his tail as well. The armor was a combination of red and black and was composed of highly condensed titanium and blood-steel forged in Hellfire. It was an extremely potent combination. **(1)**

He unsealed his sword before he put on the greaves, making it increase in size to accommodate his demonic form and placed it in a special sheath made for it that prevented movement so that it did not cut through it by accident. He picked up one of the dragon fiber longbows and a quiver full of arrows that were coated in a variety of poisons on his way out of the vault. He also sealed an axe and a spear into a scroll which went through his belt. He was going in guns blazing so to speak. He was royally pissed seeing fifty thousand years of work, almost one sixth of his life, go to absolute waste and he was planning to take every last one of those years out of Baal's hide.

He left the palace, and took stock of the situation. It was absolute Chaos. Fires were assaulting a number a buildings and businesses, demons lay dead in the street, there was no order to everything and everyone was running around like their heads were chopped off. Chimera heaved an enormous demonic sigh. This was the sort of situation he was trying to prevent all these years. What's the point of being the king of a mound of corpses? He strode over the most likely place Baal was going to be. The source of the immense power he and every other being in Hell could feel. He was amazed by its size; he could see how the thing could fight on equal terms with the Almighty. The odds did not deter him however and he marched toward the source of that immense power, a great fear held under control by an iron will.

He could tell from the positioning of the energy that the demon was near the palace of Mephistopheles so he went for the palace of Grimlet instead. Grimlet had an immense tower instead of the sprawling castle like thing he and Mephistopheles preferred. It made for an excellent bow position. He arrived at the ruined tower and saw that the entire thing which was normally about seventy stories tall was cut in half so that it stood at about forty stories instead. The rest was nothing but a field of rubble. He flew to the top of the ruined tower and perched on one of the cut walls, observing his target. The distance between the two buildings was about seven miles, un-scoutable by human eyes, but possible for him. He could see, just barely a giant shape near the palace of the late Archduke Mephistopheles and the energy he felt radiated from it. He took an arrow from its black sheath and fit it to his bow of dragon muscle. He poured energy into the jet black arrow until it shone with light from the power being infused into it. An immense aura shone from the slip of darkness from the same. When Chimera aimed high above the target and let go of the bloody string with an enormous 'THRUM' and a shockwave that flattened twenty feet of rock around him, the arrow resembled nothing more than a great shooting star. Chimera drew three more arrows from the quiver thinking 'Okay, your name is Baal, let's see if you pop like one' as the arrow broke apart directly above the targeted demon. Shafts of light rained down upon the ruin where the demon was located, each shaft causing a huge explosion as it impacted with the ground. There was a wasteland a mile in diameter when the dust cleared. Chimera knocked another arrow to the bow as the legendary demon, Tyrant Baal; the Lord of Terror stepped into view. He was as tall as Chimera was, with a stony grey complexion and immense wings. His body looked like it was sculpted from marble and two thick plates of armor were upon his shoulders with two large spikes that looked like horns coming from them. Two white horns hooked in from the side of his head and his small eyes were burning red, large demon wings fanned out behind him. He looked up at Chimera and broke out at a run towards his sniping position, his wings flapping to give him more speed.

Chimera wasted no time in charging chakra into each arrow as he fired them at Baal. Each arrow shone with darkness and it exploded upon contact with the ground. Baal swerved from side to side at lighting speed, leaving a slight after-image behind him as he moved. Each arrow could pierce through steel and he still missed every time! Chimera ground his teeth in frustration and both fitted and fired arrows with greater frequency. Again they were avoided. Both explosions and arrows. When Baal approached the ruined tower, his eyes flashed and swords appeared from the air and rushed towards him on his perch. Chimera jumped from the tower, arms spread in a dive. As he dived, he began to run down the tower, firing his last five arrows at Baal, one after the other. Only one connected, but he had prepared himself to take the impact so the damage was minimal as Chimera discarded the bow and took up the newly unsealed spear.

He rushed toward the legendary demon and thrust the spear toward his throat, only for it to be sidestepped and have the great demon charging toward him. Chimera kicked him in the chest and jumped back, springing off of an upright boulder and came at the great demon, aiming to run him through. Baal shifted his body and caught the spear on his shoulder armor, the blade breaking and as he approached let Chimera have it right in the jaw, sending him flying back… through several solid stone walls.

Chimera got up again and unsealed the massive axe from the scroll, the thing weighed several tons and was as big as he was and the moment he grasped it he swung it horizontally in front of him, cutting through several swords that had come flying towards him. He dashed toward the so far mute, yet obviously powerful demon before him, axe at the ready. He swung it with all his strength only for it to be ducked by the demon and an enormous blade plunged upward from the ground to try and impale Chimera. He jumped into the air and took flight, the great wings laboring beneath the weight of the axe. He brought the great slab of metal down onto the legendary demon before him, but it was sidestepped and a sword appeared from nowhere to cut through the steel haft of the weapon. He glared at the demon that might have been moving stone for all the expression he showed. He drew Mukuro from its sheath and charged the demon, the sword's black light playing through the air as he hacked and slashed at his great foe. He grabbed Chimera's sword arm and punched him square in the face, sending him far back, him silently following behind him.

Chimera rose without a word and went through several handseals, yelling "Katon: Dai Endan!" As he spewed white flames at his opponent. Several blades cut through the flames on their collision course with Chimera's skull in response. Chimera sliced through the blades with Mukuro and lunged for the demon once more. He hacked and slashed at his greatest speed but was still outmaneuvered by Baal.

He managed to kick Baal in the stomach, sending him backward and several blades of wind to slice through the beast. Several wounds opened in his skin, but they were shallow and soon healed. He jumped atop some nearby rubble to avoid the rest of the blades. Chimera turned towards him and he blurred to the side, leaving several pillars of light plunging toward him in the demon's wake. He took flight and avoided the columns which created immense explosions upon colliding with the ground.

He looked at the demon who glared at him with that silent, menacing gaze and dive bombed him, sword in hand. His sword arm was gripped in a hand that might as well have been a steel vice. A jerking movement and a sickening snap later saw the bones in that limb broken. Chimera howled in pain, only to be punched in the chest. A number of blades rose from the ground to meet and impale him but he used his wings to regain his orientation and his position. He knew that he had to buy some time as his arm healed but the legendary beast before him felt no inclination to give him that time and continued his assault. Swords appeared above and dropped down on Chimera as he wove back and forth through the air to avoid them. He retrieved his sword from where he had dropped it when his arm was broken, holding it in his left hand and charged Baal. The large demon moved insanely fast and sent a beam of pure energy from his hand towards him. Chimera dodged the strike but watched horrified as it continued on and destroyed one of the walls of his palace.

He looked at Baal with murder in his eyes "You bastard." He rushed toward the demon and grabbed hi neck "THAT WAS MY FUCKING HOUSE!" He ran through the ruins of the battlefield, smashing Baal through wall after wall without relenting. Eventually Baal had had enough and a sword formed in front of the arm holding him, slicing it off despite armor and armored skin. Chimera ignored the pain and rushed the demon as his arm began to regrow.

Chimera could not believe that he was actually being _outclassed_. Never mind this badly. He had no idea that this tier of power had even existed until now. He could understand how he could stand against God himself one on one. He did his best to hack through the demon but the blade never touched his dark grey skin. Baal's hand blurred and smashed into Chimera's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. A spiked knee impacted into Chimera's face, one of the spikes going into the Mangekyou eye."

Chimera roared as the eye spouted blood from a gaping hole. The roar was stopped quite abruptly when Baal shoved his fist into Chimera's throat. He held onto Chimera's shoulder and pummeled Chimera's face and body with blows that Tsunade would envy. Chimera could hardly do anything. He only had one arm at the moment and that was broken. One of his eyes just had a spike put through it and he had severe internal damage. Chimera tried to get his legs and tail to work but he was smashed into a wall repeatedly. He kept doing so until Baal heard the snap of his wings breaking due to the repeated impacts.

Baal didn't stop in his assault on the younger demon. His broken arm was torn off and his throat ripped out. Chimera began to choke on his own blood until he saw something that he had never thought was ever going to happen to him. Eight pillars of bone exploded around them and black lightning played between them as Baal's hand grew black and with a sickening crunch, he plunged his claw through the armor, through the skin, and into Chimera's chest. A moment later he ripped out Chimera's horribly mutilated, black soul.

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Chimera's mindscape

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Chimera appeared in a sewer, before a broken and shattered cage. The torn remains of a paper seal littered the ground. He looked around and sadly thought 'Damn it, I was so close! I wonder, is this the end? I suppose I can go in peace knowing that the dude who took me down faced God himself and matched up evenly with him.' He looked at the broken cage and remembered a time long past, a time when he was but a weak and badly injured human child, facing down the Kyuubi in all his fury, the demon whispering promises of power into his ear, promises of revenge and glory. He smirked at the memory. He looked around and realized that he had not been here in a long time. Baal appeared in the room. He looked over at the towering demon and said "So, you came to destroy my mind too? Big shock. I just have to wonder though, where were you all these millennia? The legendary demon that faced God and forced him to retreat, Baal the Tyrant whose cruelty was and still is legendary. Why did you show up now of all times? Couldn't you have waited another month or so until you ruined everything? I mean I would have at least been at the top for a little while. Small favors and all that." Baal stayed silent.

"Well, you going to answer or what you mute fuck? Seriously if you're going to end it get it over with already, don't just leave me hanging here. I have actually been wondering what would happen to me if I died. Looks like I get to find out don't I?" Baal once again did not answer or move.

Chimera was starting to get pissed off "Satan damn it you bastard, SAY SOMETHING, YOU JUST DON'T KILL A GUY FOR NO REASON AT ALL! WHY ME, WHY NOW, WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST STAY IN THE FUCKING HISTORY BOOKS?"

Baal looked at him and spoke, he did not see his mouth move, but he could hear his voice, it was very loud and varied. Male and female voices, young and old, like a crowd yelling in unison "I could not stand idly by and let a human rule Hell, it is forbidden for a child of sin to rule its tormentor."

He looked at him and said "Yeah, yeah, very true, but I am not human."Baal's eyes flashed and the voice returned "Insolent child. You may have the body, the mind, the power of a demon, but your soul is now and forever will be human, and therefore you are now and forever will be human. I could not allow you and your blasphemy continue. You would have brought order to Hell, when it should be nothing but chaos. You and your madness had to be stopped." Chimera grew silent and looked at the demon of legend. "So, what's in store for me now?"

Baal's voice continued "Now things return to the way they are supposed to be. Return to where you were meant to be and stay there, mortal."

The voice rang out and the mindscape shattered. The last thing Chimera heard was that massive voice shouting "Oniton: Jikoku Gyakuten no jutsu!" **(2)**

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(1) Think the Daedric armor from Elder Scrolls four, with suitable adjustments.

(2) Demon release, time reversal technique

That my friends and readers is the last chapter of Naruto the Chimera. I bid you adieu until the next chapter, the last chapter, the epilogue. By the way, the reason Baal is so strong is simple. He is the most powerful demon in history and there are many appearances of him in our own scripture. Some religions claim that he is actually a god, while others, Christianity included say that he is a demon. Satan's lieutenant or Satan himself.

Until the next and final update my readers,

Artful Lounger


	38. Epilogue

Greetings one and all to the final chapter of Naruto the Chimera

Greetings one and all to the final chapter of Naruto the Chimera. With this epilogue ends this story once and for all. The rules of my next fic have already been explained, the choices are at the end of the chapter. All I can say is thank you to all the readers who have bared with me all this way, and thank you even more to you guys who reviewed and gave me advice all this way, Vilkath, Darkwrite, Siegfriedzz, raziel44, The PageMaster, Nightfalcon69, DemonRaily, and all the others.

Except for those who flamed me and offered no help (looks at redspiral) YOU FUCKING SUCK GET A LIFE!

Also I am sorry for those who did not enjoy the ending, they are my weak point as a writer, mainly since I have never gotten this far into a story before, sorry for those who were disappointed I can only hope to do better in my future stories as my experience grows, please forgive me.

Final Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Harry Potter, the Dresden Files, MAR, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inuyasha, One Piece, Avatar, Disgaea, Sailor Moon, or anything else I used in this story. If I did, I would not have fucked up the Naruto Manga like Kishimoto did, it's that simple.

**Stats upon the posing of this chapter:**

**Chapters: 37**

**Words: 159452**

**Reviews: 476**

**Hits: 93504**

**Favs: 168**

**Alerts: 212**

**C2's: 33**

Thank you all, it's all I can say

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Summary of last chapter

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Chimera was defeated by Baal, plain and simple

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Konohagakure, the day of the Kyuubi attack

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It was a horrible day in the history of Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the most powerful of the nine Bijuu of legend attacked the village. It burned forest and building with white fire and crushed all that remained beneath clawed paw and furred tail. The losses were heavy but the battle was won. Thousands of Chuunin and Jounin fell to the beast but the most important loss was that of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. He died sealing the great demon into a child, a boy, a young man by the name of Uzumaki Naruto. And he was hated for five years until one day the vengeful student of the Yondaime attempted to assassinate the boy with his signature attack: The Raikiri, horribly burning the boy's face.

The next morning the window was unlatched in the boy's hospital room and the bed was empty. A note sat on the pillow which the Sandaime read in haste. It only said one word: REGRET.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, in a different dimension, a demon that looked like he was made from stone suddenly had his head ripped off by an unseen assailant. In the demon's last moments, all he could see was one piercing red eye, and one piercing blue beyond a mask that looked like a human skull. The last thing he heard before he died was 'Payback's a bitch'

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And with that is the last and shortest chapter in the entire story. With that I can say these words for the first time ever: STORY COMPLETE! And man am I glad to finally say them. The choices for my next fic are below. The poll in my profile will be going up a few minutes after this chapter is posted. It is only up there for one week so vote now!

With great pride in the story as a whole,

Until the next story,

Artful Lounger.

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Story Possibilities, vote once and once only in the poll

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All four of these choices are going to be Dark/Evil Naruto stories

Choice number 1:

Name: 30 Pieces of Silver

Summary: What would happen if Naruto found a picked up an old box with thirty blackened silver coins in it. What if he picked it up and a new being was in his head along with the Kyuubi. A being by the name of Anduriel.

Naruto based on Nicodemus from the Dresden Files.

Pairings: Debatable, could be none at all or anything at all, as long as it is not Yaoi or NaruSaku.

Choice number 2:

Name: Naruto's Seven

Summary: The immense pain and grief given by Konohagakure became too much and Naruto's mind snapped. Again and Again. Until instead of one there were seven.

Naruto based upon Shinobu Sensui from Yu Yu Hakusho

Pairings are once again debatable

Choice number 3:

Name: Kage no Naruto

Summary: What would become of Naruto if Kyuubi gave Naruto a defense instead of just healing him? The power of shadows and darkness.

Naruto would pretty much have every shadow power I could think of. Gecko Moria's abilities from One Piece. That shadow guy's (I can't remember his name) powers from Yu Yu Hakusho, you know he steps on his shadow and his opponent is completely paralyzed and so on. He would also be able to manipulate shadows like Gaara manipulates sand, making them solid to defend himself and quite a few others.

Pairings: Debatable.

Choice number 4:

Naruto Kuma

Summary: Whiskers weren't the only indications of the Kyuubi in Naruto. He was also born with strange pads on his palms.

Naruto with the abilities of Bartholomew Kuma from One Piece. Since that guy is the definition of badass, you should do some research into the guy before you vote.

Pairings: Once more debatable.

The poll will be going up within 10 minutes of this chapter so you may have to wait a little while as I have never put up a poll before. Remember, its only going up for one week and one week only, so don't waste time!

See you in about a week,

Artful Lounger


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